The watchdog agency Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that the controversial 2018 deal between China and the Vatican has “helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official church.”
According to a detailed new report issued by HRW, the Chinese state is only increasing its persecution of underground Catholics, and is doing so aided by the framework of the 2018 deal between Beijing and the Holy See regarding the appointment of bishops.
“The 2018 Holy See-China agreement on bishops has helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official church,” HRW wrote on April 15.
Having been signed in 2018 on a provisional basis, the secretive Sino-Vatican deal’s specific details remain undisclosed: a peculiar air of mystery surrounds them. It has since been renewed a number of times, most recently in 2024 for a period of four years.
The agreement is believed to recognize the state-approved version of the Catholic Church and allows the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to appoint bishops. The Pope apparently maintains a veto power although in practice it is the CCP that has control. It also allegedly allows for the removal and replacement of legitimate bishops by CCP-approved bishops.
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