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Cardinal Parolin confirms Pope Leo’s approval of China bishop appointments despite ‘imperfect’ agreement Cardinal Pietro Parolin has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has approved episcopal appointments under the Vatican’s agreement with China, acknowledging that the arrangement remains imperfect but insisting that dialogue with Beijing must continueCardinal Pietro Parolin has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has given his assent to episcopal appointments made under the agreement between the Holy See and China, while acknowledging that the arrangement remains imperfect and defending the Vatican’s decision to continue implementing it.Speaking to journalists on Thursday, 5 November, the Vatican Secretary of State reaffirmed that...

Xi ‘Sinicizes’ China’s Catholic Church, with Vatican Approval China’s clerics are becoming propagandists for the government.The Vatican has been widely criticized for its 2018 provisional agreement with China. While the agreement’s contents are secret, the Holy See revealed that it gives Beijing a role, along with at least a papal right to veto, in appointing Catholic bishops in China. Due to President Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization” of religion campaign, eight years on, the agreement is even more disastrous than previously thought.Last month, the agreement saw 44-year-old parish priest Father Andrew Ding appointed archbishop of the megacity of Chongqing. His chief distinction...