Bishop, 89, leads cross–removal protest

The elderly bishop of Wenzhou joined 20 clergy last week in a protest against the removal of crosses from churches in Zhejiang province, writes Ellen Teague.

 It was the first time the Catholic Church took the cause to the streets. According to an eyewitness, local Catholics were moved “to see the bishop leading the struggle to retain the symbol of their faith”.  Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang of Wenzhou, 89, stood for nearly two hours outside government offices in Wenzhou city leaning on his walking stick at the protest on 24 July. Several police officers observed the scene.

Bishop Zhu issued an open letter last August, calling on Catholics to defend their rights and dignity in the face of the cross-removal campaign. Zhejiang has a Catholic population of 210,000. Around 360 church buildings and crosses have been destroyed already this year in Wenzhou.