On July 5, the last legal Protestant church in the region of Karakalpakstan was closed after all religious activities by the Emmanuel Full Gospel Church were banned by the regional Justice Ministry (click here to read more). The church appealed to the country's Supreme Court, which ruled on November 9 that the ban would remain unchanged. According to a November 11 report from Forum 18, the church intends to continue its battle. To read more details, click here.
(Source: Forum 18)
On October 27, two Catholic priests, Father Wang Xhow Fa and Father P. Paulus Shao Gu Min, were arrested shortly after celebrating Mass. The two priests have been under significant pressure from the authorities for many years and were recently interviewed by the Italian news service, L'Espresso. Police would not confirm whether the interview had anything to do with their arrest.
While worshipping with approximately one hundred other Christians in a house church in the town of Wuquan in Henan Province, six church leaders were dragged from the service on November 6 by officials from the Public Security Bureau and Religious Affair Bureau of Wuyang County. Those arrested included Mr. Yuan Quansan, Mr. Zhang Xiaowu, Mr. He Zhanying, Mr. Wang Jinzhong and Mr. X Guangwei. All but Yuan Quansan and Guang Wei were released the next day. Police told them they would be released if they guaranteed that their house church would either stop meeting or join the official Three-Self Patriotic Church.
