China, Vatican extend agreement on bishop appointments

The Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday confirmed that the Vatican and the Chinese government renewed their agreement for the third time. The two parties first signed the agreement in 2018, renewing it every two years since then. This week’s renewal extends the deal for four years. While the details of the agreement have not been made public, Pope Francis has said that it includes a joint commission between the Vatican and Chinese authorities to appoint Catholic bishops in the country.

China in 2022 violated the terms of the agreement by appointing a bishop to the so-called diocese of Jiangxi, a church area the Vatican does not recognize. It violated it again last year, appointing a bishop to Shanghai. About 10 bishops have been appointed under the provisional agreement. Beijing has also accepted the role of several previously unrecognized bishops, according to the Vatican.

What preceded the renewal? A report released this month found that 10 Catholic bishops in China faced increased persecution after the agreement was first signed. Seven bishops were detained without due process in recent years and Beijing has targeted others for opposing the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, according to the report from the Hudson Institute.

The patriotic association is controlled by the government and requires members to pledge independence from the Holy See. Meanwhile, a September report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom found that Chinese officials have replaced images of Christ in churches with images of President Xi Jinping. The report said the image-switching was part of the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign to bring religion under government control.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about China freeing an American pastor who spent nearly two decades behind bars.