On August 2, Pope Francis declared the death penalty “always inadmissible” and promised a vigorous action by the Catholic Church to eliminate it throughout the world. At least 60% of the world’s executions every year happen in China. On August 2, 2018, the Vatican...
Catholic Church
Authorities Demolish a Part of Religious Heritage Building
The Catholic Henan Regional Seminary is an essential part of the province’s religious and cultural heritage; authorities recently forcibly demolished the entrance to the seminary. Bitter Winter has recently learned that at 6 a.m. on April 27, 2018, claiming the...
Catholic Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 30 Years of House Arrest
The bishop of Zhengding of the underground Catholic Church has been in and out of detention since 1989, and is still kept under strict surveillance. Hebei is an important base for the Catholic Church in China. For many years, bishops and priests from the underground...
Images: Destruction of the Way of the Cross in Henan
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 21, 2018 Bitter Winter reported earlier about the destruction of a Roman Catholic Way of the Cross in Henan Province. In the evening of June 5, officials ordered excavators and other heavy machinery to destroy the monuments...
Bitter Winter Interviews – Professor Ricardo Martínez Esquivel
At the beginning of the 17th century, one of the most important controversies in the history of Chinese Christianity developed in the Catholic Church, one whose consequences are still felt today. Jesuit missionaries proposed a new style of evangelization in China....
Catholic Priest Persecuted for Over 60 Years
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 20, 2018 Han Jingtao is currently 97-years-old. He is a priest of a so-called “underground” Catholic church from Bairin Right Banner in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. As a priest of the church whose bishops are appointed by...
Catholic Church in Henan Vandalized, Priest Arrested and Forced to Leave China
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 19, 2018 In December of 2017, a Catholic “underground” church in the Weibin District of the city of Xinxiang in Henan Province set up a youth fellowship. Catholic underground churches belong to the clandestine Catholic...
Catholic Priest Detained for Plans to Discuss Proposed China-Vatican Agreement
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 19, 2018 The agreement currently being discussed between China and the Vatican on the appointment of Catholic bishops has been and still is a topic of particularly great interest and concern for Catholic clergy and...
Police Raided a Catholic Church in Jilin Province And Arrested Nine Nuns
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 13, 2018 On May 11, the Communist Party police raided a Catholic church in Helong town, Nong’an County, Changchun city, Jilin Province, and arrested nine nuns. Since the raid, the church, which is part of the so-called...
Catholic Church Demolished in Gongyi, Henan
Source: Direct Reports from China Date: June 12, 2018 On April 17, authorities demolished a Catholic church in the city of Gongyi, Henan Province, claiming that it was built unlawfully. According to the priest at the church, Father Yang (pseudonym, 54 years old), the...





