New pope urged to review Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments News
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New pope urged to review Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged newly-elected Pope Leo XIV to initiate an immediate review of the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with the Chinese government.

The Vatican-China agreement was signed between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China in 2018, aiming to bridge decades of division between state-sanctioned churches and underground Catholic communities loyal to Rome. That agreement permitted Beijing to appoint bishops for government-approved Catholic churches.

HRW has expressed concern that the agreement enables the Chinese state to further curtail religious freedom. Specifically, HRW detailed that the agreement has emboldened Chinese authorities to intensify their repression of unregistered religious groups. The Chinese Constitution nominally guarantees freedom of religion. However, in practice, all religious organizations must register with the state and adhere to official doctrines, with authorities in recent years forcing religious leaders to pledge loyalty to the Communist Party of China.

This call by HRW comes after Beijing reportedly violated the agreement by unilaterally installing a bishop in a diocese not recognized by the Vatican. Last October, HRW had called on the Vatican to leverage the extension of the agreement with China to protect religious freedoms and for the immediate freedom of the forcibly disappeared Catholic bishops. Although the Vatican has a veto power according to the agreement, HRW noted that it has never exercised this power despite these violations.

In December 2021, the China State Administration of Religious Affairs issued new regulations banning foreign organizations and individuals from posting online religious content. Lastly, this call by HRW comes after it called out China on crimes against humanity committed against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, on the second anniversary of the UN’s report finding the same.

Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, implored the new pope to “press for negotiations that could help improve the right to religious practice for everyone in China.”

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