China: Eight years in prison for preaching the gospel

A court in China's Hubei province has sentenced a female Christian pastor to eight years in prison for "preaching the gospel", according to the court, her house church refused for joining a government-controlled body that oversees Protestant churches. 

The Izhou Cheng District People's Court sentenced Rev. Hao Zhiwei to eight years in prison earlier this month, USA News reported. Hao was arrested in July 2019. She is the first pastor of a house church in the country to be convicted of fraud in government institutions. The 51-year-old priest was charged with fraud for preaching the gospel.

The Hao Church building was demolished in August 2019 by a religious watchdog, and while the church has been under constant harassment and security pressure for several months, security officials have also arrested several other house church priests on the same charge.

The group added that Pastor Hao's health was deteriorating in prison and needed medical supervision and treatment.

 The US Open Doors Monitor the persecution of Christians in more than 60 countries, warning that the persecution of Christians in China has increased over the past year and that more churches have been persecuted.

Many unregistered churches have been forced to break up into small groups and gather in different places, so as not to be identified by district officers or the neighborhood committee.

The Chinese government closes unregistered churches on various charges such as fraud, disturbing public order and threatening national security, and sentences their members to long prison terms.

 

_{Source and Credit: CT, CN}