CORRECTION: Chinese Church does NOT want to separate from Rome.

A very astute reader called attention to my misleading headline on a previous blog post. I said The Church in China wants to be separate from Rome! But that is very misleading because the Chinese CHURCH does not want to separate from Rome. In fact, it is Chinese officials. The Chinese government wants to take control of the Church and their worship. They want to make sure people have an allegiance to Beijing and no allegiance nor to the Holy See, for they fear outside influence. Despite progress, China is far from a free country. They control much of the information that enters the country and people are not free to make their own decisions in many areas. It's also worth noting that atheism is the official state belief system in China and they have cracked down forcefully on religious practice.

Members of Falon Gong have been systematically intimidated, tortured, and overall coerced into not following that religion. Other religions have been severely limited in what they can and cannot do. Many brave martyrs have died defending the Truth in China and will continue to do so until it becomes legal.

There are many faith-filled and great Chinese Catholics who want to listen to and follow the Pope in Rome but it is the Chinese Government which is preventing them. Sorry about the error and big thanks to the Facebook follower who pointed this out!