Chinese Authorities Remove Cross From Nursing Home Ahead of Christmas

An employee at a nursing home in China told media outlets this week that government authorities removed a cross from the nursing home a few days before Christmas.

Gao Huifang, who works at the nursing home in Hangzhou, told Reuters that authorities entered the building on December 19 and removed a large cross, serving as a Christmas decoration, from the nursing home's wall before leaving.

"Although everyone has recovered, the wound to our hearts will never heal," Gao told Reuters in a recent telephone interview.

According to One News Now, about 300 government soldiers dressed in plainclothes reportedly blocked the entrance to Hangzhou to remove the cross from the nursing home. This is one of several attempts local authorities have made in Hangzhou to remove what they describe as "illegal crosses" in a region known for its growing Christian population.

Sooyoung Kim with International Christian Concern told One News Now that locals who witnessed the cross be removed argue that the religious symbol was not illegal according to local building codes.

"But every local believer we interviewed," says Kim, "everyone of them expressed a very consistent message, which is that a church cross is not against any building code. So the removing of the church crosses is not fair and it's not just."

Despite the religious persecution ahead of the holidays, local Christians in Hangzhou and beyond say they still celebrated Christmas with joy.

"Things have got worse this year because the police started to detain us. I was detained for a week," Zhao Sheng, who organized the music for a local service, told the Agence France-Presse.

"But Christmas is still a happy time. No matter what happens, God is with us," he added.