SHANGHAI, China (ABP) — The 135-year-old Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in Shanghai, China, was handed back to Chinese Christians in June, according to the Church Times of London.
Built in 1869, the gothic cathedral is a symbol of the presence of Christianity before the civil war of 1949 and the later Cultural Revolution. The church building was closed in 1949 and served as a cultural and historic site under municipal authority.
Now the cathedral — its original towering spire long gone — will serve as headquarters for the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of Protestant Churches in China and the China Christian Council. Cao Shengjie, CCC president, said the group has grown to include 50,000 congregations.
The Three-Self Movement aims to form a Chinese church independent of the West that is self-governed, self-supported and self-propagating. It has been accused of being subservient to the Chinese government. The CCC is a service organization for all Christian denominations in China and a member of the World Council of Churches.
Cao said the relocation to the historic building will “effectively refute the wanton attack of the United States on China's religion policy and freedom of religion,” the Church Times reported, and Christians in China can “fully enjoy the freedom of religion.”
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