ITEMS of INTEREST

with contributions from Julie Chao, Sharon Linstedt, Nigel Scott, Sara Steffens

"Last Month , Chinese authorities announced groundbreaking for two churches in Beijing, the first to be built in the capital since the Communist Party took power in 1949, according to the state-run People's Daily newspaper.

"Why is the officially atheist Communist government suddenly building churches? 'That's quite simple: the 2008 Olympics,' said the Rev. Chan Kim-kwong, a historian of religion in China. 'Everything started two years ago when Beijing got the Olympic games.'

"Beijing officials brought foreign reporters to the site of one of the two new Protestant churches this week, showing them architectural renderings and models of the structures, due to be completed by the end of the year. With reflecting pools and a flared roof reaching into the heavens, the designs are decidedly modern.

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