The Vatican and China renewed for two years a historic agreement on the appointment of bishops

The The Vatican and the Chinese Communist regime Renewed for two years A historic deal was made in 2018 On the thorny issue appointment of bishops In the Asian giant, the Holy See announced on Saturday.

“The Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, after appropriate consultations and assessments, agreed to prolong it Two years In a statement, the Vatican announced the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, signed on September 22, 2018, and renewed for the first time in 2020.

Beijing and the Vatican in September 2018 signed a temporary and renewable agreement in October 2020 that they wanted to terminate 70 years of tensions On the thorny question of appointing bishops.

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The Holy See announced in 2018 in a statement that it had signed in Beijing a “Protocol of a Provisional Agreement for the Appointment of Bishops” in China, which has been the subject of a decades-old dispute. The historical agreement covers only religion It does not refer to the restoration of diplomatic relations that have been suspended since 1951, two years after the Communists came to power.

12 million Catholics in China are torn between Secret Church called “Underground”which recognizes only the authority of the Pope and the “official” Church subject to the system.

Under the 2018 agreement, Pope Francis acknowledged eight bishops Beijing appointed it without its consent and the Chinese authorities in turn recognized the two former bishops of this secret church.

But the concessions made by the Vatican did not make life for the Christians of this secret Chinese church, which may represent some. 6 million believersbe easier.

Catholics, like believers of other faiths, suffer from the ubiquitous policy of the Chinese system that It translates to the destruction of churches or crosses on the roofs of buildings or the closure of schools that are considered sectarian.

The text “concerns the appointment of bishops, a topic of great importance to the life of the Church, and creates conditions for greater cooperation at the bilateral level,” the Holy See defined in a 2018 statement.

(With information from AFP)

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