Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 04/20/2026 6:23:43 PM PDT by ebb tide
Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on Catholic communities to join the state-controlled church under tighter ideological and administrative restrictions.
On April 15, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report according to which the Chinese government has escalated measures against Catholic communities across the country by strengthening ideological oversight, surveillance systems, and administrative restrictions. The government is particularly targeting underground Catholics who refuse to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association against the backdrop of the 2018 provisional agreement between the Holy See and Beijing on the appointment of bishops.
READ: Pope Leo warns against syncretism weeks after 1995 Pachamama ritual revelations
“A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
According to HRW, the Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to compel underground Catholic communities to affiliate with the official church structure. This pressure has reportedly included arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and prolonged house arrest of clergy who resist compliance. The organization based its findings on interviews with nine individuals possessing direct knowledge of Catholic life in China, along with expert consultations and analysis of official documents and state media.
Contrary to the Holy See’s official statements, the report argues that the “2018 Holy See–China agreement on bishops has helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official [state-run] church.”
For this reason, Uluyol believes that “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers.”
Significantly, the report notes that “a summary of its findings” was sent not only to the Chinese government but also to the Holy See, with a request for comment; however, “[n]either has responded.”
Officially, the contents of the secret agreement between the Holy See and Beijing – first signed in 2018 under Pope Francis, with the long‑standing involvement of the Secretariat of State and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – have never been disclosed. In recent years, however, it has become something of an open secret. As the report notes: “Under the 2018 Holy See–China agreement, Beijing proposes candidates for bishop that the pope can then veto, though the agreement’s full text has never been made public. The agreement has been renewed three times and is now valid through October 2028.”
What is most striking, however, is another point: according to HRW’s sources, “no pope has exercised his veto, even after the Chinese government violated its terms by unilaterally appointing bishops. Pope Leo XIV, in office since May 2025, has also approved Beijing’s five appointments.”
“People interviewed said that the 2018 agreement provided an overarching structure for the authorities to pressure underground Catholics,” the report notes, adding:
It left them with no other choice but to join the official church, said a person whose church was demolished, its cross removed, and its members threatened and arrested. Another person said the agreement has proven to be an intelligent weapon to legally destroy underground churches, as senior underground bishops, under persecution for years, have died or been replaced by officially appointed bishops. Some underground Catholics said they felt betrayed by the Vatican … They feel like the Vatican is also coming after them.
They arrested priests and bishops from the underground churches and told them: “The Vatican has ordered you to join the Patriotic Association.”
While the Chinese government persecutes bishops it regards as dissidents, the Vatican remains publicly silent. According to the report, two persecuted bishops – Joseph Zhang Weizhu and Melchior Shi Hongzhen – have been “persuaded” to join the official Church. Two others – Augustine Cui Tai and Thaddeus Ma Daqin – remain in Chinese detention to this day. Even more troubling is the fate of two additional bishops, James Su Zhimin and Xin Wenzhi, who remain missing. Su Zhimin would now be 94 years old.
In September 2025, Chinese authorities introduced an Online Code of Conduct for Religious Professionals, banning unauthorized religious content and sharply restricting public access to teachings not controlled by the state. In recent years, the Chinese government has intensified surveillance over official Catholic churches as well, installing cameras in some buildings to monitor activities.
Furthermore, “Chinese authorities in recent years have shut down [Catholic] orphanages and centers for children with disabilities across the country … children from closed institutions were reportedly transferred to state institutions.”
Sinicization is the political and ideological campaign promoted by the Chinese Communist government under Xi Jinping, which requires state‑approved religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam – to conform to Han‑centric culture and to the post‑Maoist ideology of the ruling party.
READ: Japanese Communist Party politician claims he was harmed by ‘misgendering’ in lawsuit
In 2018, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, described Sinicization as “potentially compatible with inculturation of Christianity” – the process of embodying the religion in local culture.
In February 2026, the Chinese government sentenced Jimmy Lai, the Catholic entrepreneur widely recognized as an international symbol of press freedom, to 20 years in prison under the notorious National Security Law. When asked about the case by journalists, Pope Leo XIV replied: “I cannot comment on this.” A stance that appears in contrast with his claims of independence from global politics during a public spat with U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Working as an unskilled laborer (in Communist Russia), Father Ciszek was arrested in 1941 by the secret police as a suspected spy and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in Siberia. While in various prison camps, he managed to celebrate Mass and hear confessions.
The past two synodal popes have been quite accommodating to the atheist communists and have strived not to offend them.
Ping
Pope Marx II speaks.
The 2018 provisional agreement between the Vatican and China regarding the appointment of bishops remains classified, with neither side releasing the full text.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.