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Anhui, is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, bordering Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a short section in the north.
Christianity is the largest religion in Canada, with Roman Catholics having the most adherents. Christians, representing 63.2% of the population in 2019, are followed by people having no religion with 26.3% of the total population. Other faiths include Islam (3.7%), Hindus (1.7%), Sikhs (1.4%), Buddhists (1.4%), and Jews (1.0%).
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome ." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the "Temple of the Holy Spirit", among other names. According to Vatican II's Gaudium et spes, the "church has but one sole purpose–that the kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished."
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Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated from the life and teachings of Jesus in 1st-century Roman Judea. Christianity then spread through the missionary work of his apostles, first in the Levant and taking roots in the major cities such as Jerusalem and Antioch. According to tradition, further eastward expansion occurred via the preaching of Thomas the Apostle, who established Christianity in the Parthian Empire (Iran) and India. The very First Ecumenical Council was held in the city of Nicaea in Asia Minor (325). The first nations to adopt Christianity as a state religion were Armenia in 301 and Georgia in 327. By the 4th century, Christianity became the dominant religion in all Asian provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire.
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Henan province of China has one of the largest Christian populations of East Asia. There are believed to be several million Christians in Henan, most of them attending Chinese house churches. Henan is thought to have one of the most significant proportions of Christians of any Chinese province. Henan has one of the largest Protestant populations of the country. Many Protestants of Henan live in rural areas. On August 6, 2004, a hundred house church members were arrested in Henan. During the Boxer Rebellion, Christians were killed in Henan. The Henan Mission, up to 1925 of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, was founded in 1888. The Shouters are active in the province. There is persecution of Christians. Bishop Li Hongye was arrested in Luoyang in 2001. A Henan Bible School exists.
Christianity is a minority religion in Jiangsu province of China. Elsewhere in China, Christians are found in significant numbers in Henan, in Anhui and in Shandong.
Christianity is a minority religion in Shandong province of China. Christianity in Henan, Christianity in Anhui and Christianity in Jiangsu are other major provincial Christian populations. Cheeloo University is defunct. St. Michael's Cathedral, Qingdao and Sacred Heart Cathedral (Jinan) are churches of European style. Another European-style church is due to be built in Qufu, where Confucius originated. This idea was or is opposed by Confucianist groups. There is official action against house churches.
Christianity is a minority in Zhejiang province of China. Zhejiang has one of the largest Protestant populations of China. Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Hangzhou is in Zhejiang. Zhejiang has greater religious freedom of Christianity than other parts of the country. There were more than 600 detentions of Christians in the province in 2006. The Shouters are active in the province. Christianity in Wenzhou is a disproportionately large population.
Christianity is a minority in Hebei province of China. The Shouters are present in the province. China has persecution of Christians. A significant minority of the Catholics of China is in Hebei. Bishop Yao Liang was from Hebei. Guo Jincai has been made a bishop of Chengde in Hebei without consent of the pope. Roman Catholic bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested in 2008. Catholic bishops Su Zhimin and Shi Enxiang from Hebei have been sent to prison by 2010. Beifang Jinde is a charitable Catholic institution in Shijiazhuang.
Christianity is a minority in Guangdong, a province of China. The province has more Christians than it has Muslims. Christianity in Hong Kong enjoys more liberty.
Evangelization of indigenous population to Christianity began in the 19th century under the British era. In the 1830s, American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society had become active in Northeast to evangelize indigenous tribes to Christianity. Later, they were offered to expand and reach into Cherrapunji Meghalaya, but they lacked the resources to do so and declined. Welsh Presbyterian Mission took the offer and they began work at the Cherrapunji mission field. By the early 1900s, other Protestant denominations of Christianity were active in Meghalaya. The outbreak of World Wars forced the preachers to return home to Europe and America. It is during this period that Catholicism took root in Meghalaya and neighbouring region. Currently, Catholics, Presbyterians and Baptists are three most common Christian denominations found in Meghalaya.
References
- ↑ Atlas of Global Christianity. 1910-2010. Edinburgh University Press, 2009, p. 137
- ↑ Atlas of Global Christianity. 1910-2010. Edinburgh University Press, 2009, p. 137
- ↑ China General Social Survey 2009, Chinese Spiritual Life Survey (CSLS) 2007. Report by: Xiuhua Wang (2015, p. 15) Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Atlas of Global Christianity. 1910-2010. Edinburgh University Press,2009, p. 137
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "Christenvervolging - Reformatorisch Dagblad". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ↑ http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4b6fe1b20.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]