So far, the present papacy is not acquitting itself more honorably than the last one with respect to the Chinese government’s treatment of Catholics, which, like its treatment of many other religious people, is not improving.
Human Rights Watch reports (April 15, 2026):
“A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement [providing for supposedly collaborative decisions on appointing bishops], Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers.”
An ”underground church” is one that operates independently of direct CCP governance but not independently of CCP harassment.
The Chinese government does not allow independent researchers into China and punishes people for speaking to foreign media or rights groups. Human Rights Watch spoke with nine people outside the country who had firsthand knowledge of Catholic life in China, as well as experts on religious freedom and Catholicism in China. Human Rights Watch also reviewed government documents and articles in the Chinese government press.
On April 7, 2026, Human Rights Watch sent a summary of its findings seeking comment from the Chinese government and the Holy See. Neither has responded….
Since the 2018 agreement, Chinese authorities have pressured underground Catholic communities to join the Patriotic Association by arbitrarily detaining, forcibly disappearing, torturing, and subjecting underground Catholic bishops and priests to house arrest….
Some underground Catholics said they felt betrayed by the Vatican. While “members of those communities are used to persecution from the [Chinese] government,” said one expert who has interviewed dozens of Catholics in China, since 2018 “they feel like the Vatican is also coming after them.”
As persecuted bishops of the underground church die off, they are not being replaced. The Chinese government plans to let the underground worship fade away, leaving only CCP-blessed “patriotic” churches, in which Xi Jinping is the new Christ.
HRW cannot get even a “we’ll look into it” from the Vatican? Maybe that’s because everybody there already knows all about it and has no plans to utter a single public word of protest.
Also see:
National Catholic Register: “China is Removing Crosses From Churches, Replacing Images of Christ With Xi Jinping”
