This photo taken on Jan. 15, 2024, shows a Chinese flag fluttering below a cross on a Christian church in Pingtan in China’s southeast Fujian province. / Credit: GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
NewregulationsfromtheStateAdministrationforReligiousAffairsinChinahaveenactedabanonseveralmajorformsofonlineevangelizationforreligiousclergyofallreligions,includingCatholicpriests.
ThenewCodeofConductforReligiousClergyontheInternetcomprises18articles.Amongstipulationsthatreligiousclergymust“lovethemotherland”andsupportChineseleadershipoftheCommunistPartyofChinaanditssocialistsystem,faithleadersarebannedfrompreachingandperformingotherreligiousritualsthroughlivebroadcasts,shortvideos,oronlinemeetings.
Priestsmayonlydosoon“websites,applications,forums,etc.legallyestablishedbyreligiousgroups,religiousschools,temples,monasteries,andchurches”withapprovalfromtheChinesegovernment.Furthermore,wheneverusingsocialmediaaccountsormessagingappstosendoutinformation,religiousclergymus
