Chinese Sect Leader Executed
China Executes at Least 12 Members of a Secret Christian Sect
The leader of a Chinese Christian sect and at least 11 of his subordinates have been executed for ordering the murder of members of a rival religious group, as the authorities seek to suppress big underground churches that they deem cults.
Xu Shuangfu, the founder of the Three Grades of Servants Church, which once claimed more than a million followers in China, was put to death last week, said his lawyer, Li Heping. Mr. Li said he and Mr. Xu’s family members learned of Mr. Xu’s death on Wednesday.
The execution of Mr. Xu and two others, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun, brings to 12 the number of members of Three Grades of Servants, a secretive Protestant sect, who have been put to death since a crackdown began in 2004, the lawyer said.
The case exposed strife among underground churches as well as the determination of the Chinese authorities to crush religious groups that do not abide by the rules imposed on officially sanctioned religious organizations.
The leader of a Chinese Christian sect and at least 11 of his subordinates have been executed for ordering the murder of members of a rival religious group, as the authorities seek to suppress big underground churches that they deem cults.
Xu Shuangfu, the founder of the Three Grades of Servants Church, which once claimed more than a million followers in China, was put to death last week, said his lawyer, Li Heping. Mr. Li said he and Mr. Xu’s family members learned of Mr. Xu’s death on Wednesday.
The execution of Mr. Xu and two others, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun, brings to 12 the number of members of Three Grades of Servants, a secretive Protestant sect, who have been put to death since a crackdown began in 2004, the lawyer said.
The case exposed strife among underground churches as well as the determination of the Chinese authorities to crush religious groups that do not abide by the rules imposed on officially sanctioned religious organizations.
posted by Ray at 5:50 AM
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