In a major blow to Chinese Catholics, the Pope has indicated the Vatican’s secretive deal with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be renewed once again. Coming just a day after reports that the Vatican’s unofficial representative in Hong Kong warned Catholics the freedoms of the past were over, Pope Francis said he hopes the Vatican’s deal with the CCP can be renewed this Autumn, since the Church takes the long view on the matter.
The deal – struck in 2018 between the Holy See and Beijing - was already renewed once in 2020. The Vatican and the CCP agreed to cooperate in the selection of bishops of a united Catholic Church in China. Beijing now elects and appoints bishops through the Bishops Conference of Catholic Church in China (BCCCC). The objective is a gradual merger of the Underground Catholic Church into the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA).
