ASIA/CHINA - Danger for Chinese Catholics: Bishops warn again about sects

by Marta Zhao

Ningbo (Agenzia Fides) - "Catholics must stay away from sects and their teachings, categorically refusing to attend their meetings. The baptized must persevere in the faith and adhere to the truths revealed in Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church," warns the Bishop of the Diocese of Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province, Francis Xavier Jin Yangke, in a pastoral letter signed on September 6.

In the Letter, the Bishop "with the affection of a pastor" asks all priests to urgently alert their respective communities to the dangers of the teachings and practices propagated by sects that, using apocalyptic language and formulas of Christian origin, seek to recruit followers even in Catholic parishes. In this context, the bishop specifically mentions the groups known as the "Church of Almighty God" and "New Heaven and New Earth" and urges vigilance against their proselytism. At the same time, the bishop assures those "who have already been deceived" to "always pray to the Lord for you, so that He may grant you the grace of discernment". "I urge you", adds the bishop, "to recognize the false truths of these teachings, to repent and to return immediately to the flock that Christ gathered and founded. The diocese will have to take ecclesiastical measures against those who continue to choose error".

This is not the first time that Chinese bishops have been prompted to warn priests, nuns and lay people of the danger of being seduced by the recruitment methods of sects that constantly refer to the books of Sacred Scripture in their propaganda, thus creating confusion even among Catholics. Some bishops and priests have reported being subjected to blackmail, threats and intimidation after asking members of their communities not to associate with members of sects that are increasingly aggressive and persistent in their attempts to recruit new followers among the baptized.

Back in 2012, the leaders of the Catholic and Protestant communities in the city of Hangzhou had published an Open Letter to Christians, on the eve of what the followers of the "Church of Almighty God" sect, also known as "Eastern Lightning" had predicted as the date of the "end of the world" (December 21, 2012). At that time, the then Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples also intervened, publishing on Fides an information dossier on the misleading teachings and the manipulative and blackmailing practices used by sectarian groups against Christian communities.

In his Pastoral Letter, Bishop Jin cites the Code of Canon Law (Canons 750-1) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 85), stating that “based on reports from parishioners and diocesan investigations, we have determined that sects such as ‘New Heaven and New Earth (or Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony)’ and ‘Church of Almighty God (or Eastern Lightning)’ have been active recently. "Their speeches," the bishop recalled, "seem to resemble those of the Church, but in reality their teachings contradict the teachings of Sacred Scripture and Tradition and turn our lives away from the Gospel of Christ." Bishop Francis Xavier Jin quoted paragraph 85 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which in turn contains a quotation from the Dogmatic Constitution "Dei Verbum" of the Second Vatican Council) to recall that "the task of interpreting authentically the written or traditional word of God is entrusted solely to the living Magisterium of the Church - that is, to the Bishops in communion with the Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome - whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."

In China, there are five religions officially recognized by the authorities: Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Christianity (understood as Protestantism) and Islam. Religious sects and their often apocalyptic and millenarian teachings find fertile ground, especially in the Chinese countryside, focusing on the announcement of the end of the world and the promise of the coming of messianic kingdoms on earth.

In his Letter, Bishop Jin refutes the cults' teachings in six points, emphasizing that their instrumentalization of the Holy Scriptures focuses mainly on the texts of Genesis and Revelation, as well as extrapolated passages from John and Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians.

In some cases, cult members have been accused and prosecuted as perpetrators of crimes and misdemeanors. In recent years, many followers have left China and moved to the United States, Canada, Australia, andnd emigrated to EU countries, where they portray themselves as victims of persecution and protectors of religious freedom. The increase in their number of followers coincides with the increase in the economic and material resources available to them.

The “Church of the Almighty” (“Eastern Lightning”)

The religious group emerged in China in 1991 and is considered a “vicious sect” by the Chinese authorities. The group’s central doctrine claims that Jesus Christ has returned to earth in our time and was incarnated as an Almighty God. According to most scholars, the person identified by the sect’s followers with the Almighty God is a woman born in northwest China in 1973, Yang Xiangbin. A major role in the group’s creation is attributed to Zhao Weishan, who emerged in the late 1980s from cult-like groups associated with Protestant congregations. In 2000, Zhao and Yang went to the United States, where they obtained political asylum and began to lead the Church from New York, while in China some leaders were arrested by the police.

As the dossier published by Fides shows, many of the followers come from evangelical communities and the Catholic Church, including nuns and priests. The militants of the religious group are integrated into the ecclesiastical communities, "they adopt exemplary behavior in Christian practice, they show an intense interest in learning". After gaining the trust of the people, they often begin to spread false news and slander community leaders, also using social networks for these smear campaigns. The group is accused of various crimes, including the cult-like murder filmed in 2014 in a McDonald's in Zhaoyuan, when a young woman was murdered by six followers.

“New Heaven and New Earth”

The group, also known as the Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Witnesses Tabernacle or by its Korean name Shincheonji, was founded on March 14, 1984 by Korean Lee Man-hee and is also growing rapidly in China, targeting its propaganda primarily at young, working and wealthy Christians in the Xuhui district of Shanghai. Followers believe that Lee Man-hee is the “promised shepherd” of the New Testament and that only he holds the keys to interpreting the metaphors of the Book of Revelation. The sect teaches that true Christian doctrine has been gradually corrupted by both the Catholic and Protestant churches since the coming of Christ and that the “promised shepherd” Lee Man-hee is called to restore it to its original purity. The sect also uses Bible study courses and meetings on peace and interfaith dialogue organized by subsidiary groups as a propaganda tool. The sect also teaches that the only ones who will be saved at the time of the Last Judgment will be its followers.
In 2014, the number of its "chapters" in China exceeded 100 and even spread to cities with a population of one million, such as Beijing and Guangzhou.
As early as March 23, 2015, the Pastoral Committee of the Diocese of Jilin had issued a communiqué warning about the activities of the "New Heaven and New Earth Sect", which was published by many Chinese Catholic websites.

The group came into the focus of the international media in 2020, when an unauthorized gathering of followers in the city was cited as the trigger for the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Korea. (Agenzia Fides, 19/9/2024)

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