1984: Thread

[grarpamp]

https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/religious-professionals-draft/
https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/voa-news-china/new-chinese-decree-tells-religious-leaders-support-communist-party

All religions that force upon those who don't force... are invalid.
The same applies to Government...

New Chinese Decree Forces Religious Leaders To Actively Support Communist Party

China has rolled out with a new policy which requires all religious
leaders in the country to show open support to the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP). The new decree goes into effect May 1 and orders all
religious heads, including Christian pastors and bishops, to "follow
the lead of and support the Communist Party."

While Chinese state interference in religious affairs of citizens is
far from anything new, this particular decree appears far reaching and
is also aimed at rooting out "foreign" influence, with significant
legal repercussions that are threatened.
Government-approved Catholic Mass in Beijing, via VOA

According to an unofficial translation of Article 3 of the decree:
"Religious professionals shall love the motherland, support the
leadership of the Communist Party of China, support the socialist
system, abide by the Constitution, laws, regulations, and rules;
practice the Core Socialist Values, uphold the principle of religious
independence and self-management, persist in our nation's direction of
the sinification of religion, and preserve national unity, ethnic
unity, religious harmony, and social stability."

The full decree entitled "Measures on the Management of Religious
Professionals" also purports to define "rights" of "religious
professionals" - or rather their extreme limitations under the law.

It also requires religious clerics to resist the infiltration of
foreign forces through religion. Violators of the new decree will also
be subject to criminal charges and other sanctions, which is a
strengthening of older policies. Instead of just state-controlled
practices, there's now more legal basis for criminalizing religion
that's been "unapproved".

Critics are already pointing out it constitutes a further severe
crackdown on freedom of religion and worship. One large 'house church'
leader in Beijing commented to US-funded VOA News, "This decree goes
against our religious beliefs, and the separation of politics and
religion." The representative said additionally, "There will be a
further narrowing of religious freedom and more severe crackdowns on
believers."

    ‘They Think The 21st Century Will Be The Chinese Communist
Century:’ Report Shows China’s Crackdown On Religious Freedom
https://t.co/FGJ20dZKLK
    — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 22, 2021

It also further tightens oversight of official government-sanctioned
Catholic communities in the country.

Below is the relevant section from the document...

Catholic bishops are to be approved and consecrated by the Bishops
Conference of Catholic Church in China. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic
Association and Bishops Conference of Catholic Church in China shall
complete a form for recording Catholic bishops within 20 days of
consecrating them, send it to the State Bureau of Religious Affairs
for filing, and submit the following materials:

    Copies of the bishop's household registration booklet and resident
identity card.
    An explanation of the circumstances by which the provincial,
autonomous region, or directly governed municipality religious group
democratically selected that bishop;
    The approval documents from the Bishops Conference of Catholic
Church in China;
    An explanation of their consecration by the bishop that presided over it.

According to VOA, the new decree is related to a recent push to force
various religious communities into integrating official CCP propaganda
and history into their religious teaching curriculum: "The issuance of
the decree coincides with a push by the government-controlled national
religious associations of Protestantism, Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism
and Islam to require all believers to study topics such as the
histories of the CCP, the People’s Republic of China and socialism to
mark the 100th anniversary of the CCP in July."