The Chinese language Communist Get together (CCP) has consecrated Father Wu Jianlin as auxiliary bishop of Shanghai with approval from Pope Leo XIV beneath the renewed 2018 Vatican–China settlement. The CCP claims control over each facet of life in China, economic system, communication, legislation, replica, and faith, which it views as a menace since, beneath communist ideology, no authority can stand above the Get together.
The Catholic Church presents a specific problem for Beijing. Like all faith, it asserts that God’s authority supersedes that of the state, nevertheless it additionally acknowledges the primacy of Rome and communion with the Vatican, acknowledging not solely a religious energy however an earthly one past Get together management. Beijing can’t tolerate such twin allegiance.
Thus, whereas China permits a type of Catholicism beneath strict limits, it’s not the Roman Catholic Church however the Chinese language Catholic Patriotic Affiliation (CPCA), a Get together-controlled physique requiring members to pledge independence from Rome. The 2018 Vatican–China settlement claims CPCA bishops are “in communion with Rome,” but this creates a contradiction: they have to publicly reject papal authority to stay authorized in China, even because the Vatican acknowledges them as respectable.
Relations between the Communist Get together and the Vatican stay complicated and contentious. Father Wu Jianlin, a member of the Chinese language Catholic Patriotic Affiliation (CPCA)—the Get together’s physique controlling the Church, was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Shanghai with Pope Leo XIV’s approval beneath the renewed Vatican–China settlement. Jianlin was “elected” by the CPCA through the papal emptiness following Pope Francis’s demise and accredited by the Vatican in August 2025. The ceremony was led by Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, whom Beijing had put in in Shanghai with out Vatican consent in 2023 however who was later acknowledged by the Holy See.
The CPCA requires clergy to pledge “independence from the Holy See,” a requirement basically incompatible with Catholic doctrine. China formally acknowledges only five religions, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Taoism—and solely state-sanctioned “patriotic associations” might maintain providers. The structure limits protections to vaguely outlined “regular non secular actions” and bans “overseas domination” of faith, making any unregistered church unlawful. For Catholics, this implies solely CPCA church buildings are lawful, and all should resign papal authority.
In 2016, the CPCA reaffirmed its precept of “independence and self-governance,” calling it “the inspiration of the Church’s existence.” A Get together official bluntly instructed Chinese language Catholics to “steer clear of Rome” and “run their Church independently.”
Pope Benedict XVI straight challenged this in his 2007 letter to Chinese language Catholics, declaring that the CPCA’s aim of independence and self-management was “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” He emphasised that whereas the Church respects civil authority in secular issues, solely the Pope holds authority in ecclesial ones. Benedict known as the Patriotic Affiliation’s management of bishop appointments “one of the delicate issues” in Vatican–Sino relations and described the CPCA as “a company incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
To understand the significance of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter, one should perceive the origins and objective of China’s “underground Catholic Church.” In 1958, Mao Zedong established the state-controlled Chinese language Patriotic Catholic Affiliation (CPCA), splitting the Church in two. Catholics who refused to affix the CPCA remained loyal to Rome, forming the underground Church, which has since struggled to keep up independence from state management.
The CPCA requires clergy to pledge independence from the Holy See, a requirement devoted Catholics rejected at nice price. After bishops refused to conform, Beijing expelled the papal envoy and imprisoned Shanghai’s Cardinal Ignatius Kung for thirty years for refusing to resign papal authority. Since then, the regime has sought to sever Chinese language Catholics from the pope and produce the Church absolutely beneath Communist management.
By 2010, an estimated forty bishops ordained with out CPCA approval operated unofficially in communion with Rome. Right this moment, roughly six million Chinese language Catholics belong to the underground Church, alongside one other six million within the state-sanctioned church. Underground Catholics worship in unofficial home church buildings that stay loyal to the Vatican.
Their faithfulness has come at a excessive worth. The federal government has raided underground church buildings, arrested clergy, and detained worshippers who refuse to register with the CPCA. A number of bishops—together with James Su Zhimin, Augustine Cui Tai, Julius Jia Zhiguo, Joseph Zhang Weizhu, Peter Shao Zhumin, and Thaddeus Ma Daqin, have confronted imprisonment, torture, or compelled disappearance. For the reason that Nineties, Beijing has shifted from overt brutality to subtler types of harassment to keep away from Western criticism.
The underground Church endures as a result of its members refuse to compromise core Catholic doctrine. They reject pledging independence from Rome, accepting Get together management over ordination and preaching, or submitting to “Sinicization,” the CCP’s effort to reshape faith in line with communist ideology. For these Catholics, declaring the Get together superior to God or the Pope could be apostasy. Their continued defiance represents the value of faithfulness.
Pope Benedict XVI defended the underground Church, calling its clandestine existence “not a standard characteristic of the Church’s life,” however urging authorities to acknowledge its bishops “for civil results” in order that “the devoted could possibly categorical their religion freely.” The underground Church continues to exist as a result of Catholics selected persecution over apostasy, remaining loyal to Rome regardless of many years of repression.
The 2018 Vatican–China settlement, whose full textual content has by no means been made public, did not safe authorized recognition or safety for the underground Church that remained loyal to Rome. After the deal, the Vatican withdrew assist from the underground neighborhood, leaving a lot of its leaders weak.
Chinese language authorities subsequently rounded up underground clergy, warning that they’d defy the pope in the event that they continued baptizing, ordaining monks, or holding providers in unregistered church buildings. No less than ten bishops are actually believed to be in indefinite detention.
The settlement’s give attention to bishop appointments seems to have excluded ensures for the protection of those underground clergy, a evident omission that has drawn sharp criticism throughout the Church. Many consider the pact successfully gave Beijing freedom to suppress devoted Catholics beneath the quilt of diplomatic cooperation.
Defenders of the settlement see it as the higher of two horrible options. With out the settlement, they argue, the Catholic Church could be pushed out of China utterly. By coming into into the settlement, the Vatican maintains communications with Beijing within the hopes that the true Roman Catholic Church might sometime be allowed to function overtly in China.
