The important gathering of the government-controlled religious bodies called for an emphasis on the latest documents of the regime in sermons and study groups.
By Hu Zimo
March 28, 2025
The “Two Sessions” of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were held in Beijing from March 4 to 11. Xi Jinping put the emphasis of the meetings in reinforcing China’s economy and military might within the context of a volatile international situation. Among the draft laws announced, a couple deal with reinforcing ethnic unity, fighting separatism, and standardize the use of Mandarin language in all provinces and regions.
Two days after the end of the Two Sessions, on March 13, the National Religious Groups Joint Conference took place in Beijing. Catholic Bishop Shen Bin chaired the conference. Shen was appointed Bishop of Shanghai in April 2023 without even informing the Holy See, as the latter stated, in clear violation of the Vatican China deal of 2018. Eventually, the Vatican ratified in July 2023 what it called a “canonically irregular appointment.” Shen was even invited to a conference in Rome in 2024, where he delivered a speech claiming that Chinese Catholics enjoy full religious liberty. Bishop Shen Bin is also the Chairman of the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, an organization recognized by the CCP but not by the Vatican.
Chen Ruifeng, Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department and Director of the National Administration of Religious Affairs, delivered a speech. The leaders of the government-controlled religious associations, including Yan Jue (China Buddhist Association), Li Guangfu (China Taoist Association), Yang Faming (China Islamic Association), Li Shan (Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association: he is the Archbishop of Beijing), and Xu Xiaohong (Three Self Church) also spoke.
National Religious Groups Joint Conferences are held to coordinate the preaching and study activities of all five authorized religions, increasingly controlled by the United Front Work Department under the policy called “Strict Governance.”
The Conference ordered religions to organize their preaching and studying around the “texts and spirit of the Two Sessions” and Xi Jinping’s speeches, although they did not have any religious content. However, what the Conference wanted to emphasize was that all clergy and religious organizations should “align their thoughts and actions with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee.” Sermons and study groups should “follow the Party’s basic principles on religious work, uphold core socialist values, integrate Chinese culture, promote the Sinicization of religion in the country, and enhance the strict governance of religious affairs.”
Government-controlled religions, once again, were told that they should preach CCP’s doctrine, including the “texts and spirit of the Two Sessions,” and function as mouthpieces for the regime.
Source: bitterwinter.org
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