China

"Shouwang and Early Rain are two high-profile examples of China’s renewed crackdown on unregistered churches, just one part of the Chinese government’s campaign to 'sinicize' religion, which means to reshape religion so that it supports the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)." - World

"Shouwang Church, which famously kept meeting outdoors after losing its pastor and worship space, is the fourth major unregistered congregation to be forcibly closed in recent months." - Christianity Today

"Nearly 50 more members, including 11 kids, of a Chinese megachurch closed down by the communist government in December were arrested at two different venues last Sunday, a watchdog group has reported." - Christian Post

"Last fall, missionary John Miller sat in the back row of an unregistered church in Sichuan province, worshipping as he had every Sunday morning for the past year and a half. Then eight police officers walked in." - WORLD

"In a brutal show of force, China has violently moved against its 100 million-strong Christian population — right on the eve of Christmas." - NCAU

Editor’s note: Over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were arrested beginning Sunday, December 9. At the time of publication of this translation, arrests are still being made. Among those taken away were Pastor Wang Yi, senior pastor of Early Rain, and his wife, Jiang Rong, who have not been heard from since Sunday.

"[T]he Vatican, ...now appears to be on the verge of repeating its mistake by completing a deal with the government of the People’s Republic of China, on the 85th anniversary of the Reichskonkordat." - National Review

"China is raiding and shuttering churches, assaulting worshipers, destroying crosses and burning Bibles in escalating persecution of Christians under a Communist constitution that claims to grant religious freedom." - BPNews