BEIJING, Sep. 4 (CWNews.com)

    Eighty-five members of an underground Protestant church in Communist China arrested last month have had formal charges filed against them, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy on Monday.

    The 85 detainees were among the 130 members of the Feng-cheng Church arrested on August 23. The charges will almost certainly lead to jail terms, the center said. They produced a copy of a formal arrest notice dated August 25 accusing a Feng-cheng member named Chen Zhouniu of "using an evil cult to obstruct justice." The charge was part of a panoply of legislation created last year to crack down on the outlawed Falun Gong spiritualist movement. The center predicted the new laws will be used to crush the country's many unofficial "house churches."

    The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations, including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches, following only bishops appointed by the Pope.

    The Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy estimated Fang-cheng had about 500,000 followers. Henry Chu, an American missionary detained among the 130 Feng-cheng followers last month and released by China, estimated the number was much larger. A Feng-cheng Church statement said its members refused to join the state church because China's rules went against principles in the Bible in many areas.

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