By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, May 12: International rights Watch dog Human Rights Watch has called on newly elected Pope Leo XIV to urgently review the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with China that allows the Chinese government to nominate bishops for the state-sanctioned Catholic Church, citing continued persecution of underground clergy and concerns over religious freedom.
In a statement released Monday, the international rights watchdog called on the pontiff to push Beijing to halt its crackdown on unregistered churches and clergy who remain loyal to Rome but operate outside the Chinese government’s officially sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association.
“Pope Leo XIV has an opportunity to make a fresh start with China to protect the religious freedom of China’s Catholics,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The new pope should press for negotiations that could help improve the right to religious practice for everyone in China.”
The Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, signed in 2018, was intended to resolve disputes over the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. For decades, the Vatican maintained authority over bishop appointments worldwide, while the Chinese government insisted on controlling appointments within its territory.
The agreement allowed Beijing to propose bishop candidates, with the pope retaining final approval, though the full terms of the agreement remain undisclosed. Critics have questioned the arrangement’s effectiveness, especially as China has made unilateral appointments that were later accepted by the Vatican.
Human Rights Watch noted that new bishops were installed in Shanghai and East Turkistan (Xinxiang) during the Vatican’s mourning period for Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21. These appointments reportedly proceeded without any public objection from the Holy See.
The organization also urged Pope Leo XIV to advocate for the release of several prominent underground clergy, including Bishop James Su Zhimin—missing since 1997—Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, who has been repeatedly placed under house arrest, and Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, detained in a 2021 raid on clergy training.
The call for a policy review comes amid wider concerns about religious repression in China, where the government has ramped up a campaign of “Sinicisation” of religion under President Xi Jinping. The policy has seen the demolition of church buildings, confiscation of unauthorised religious materials, bans on Bible apps, and heightened surveillance of faith groups.
“Chinese Catholics worshipping in underground churches are among the ‘ordinary people’ on whom Pope Leo has said the Church should focus its attention,” said Wang. “It’s critical for religious freedom in China that the Catholic Church stands on their side and not on the side of their oppressors.”
Human Rights Watch also drew attention to broader abuses under China’s religious policy, including the alleged crimes against humanity committed against Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan, where an estimated one million people have been detained since 2017. The group also cited the forced disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama and suppression of Tibetan Buddhism as examples of Beijing’s broader crackdown on religion.
Religious life under China is regulated by the state through five officially sanctioned religious associations: the CPCA for Catholics, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants, the Islamic Association of China, the Buddhist Association of China, which oversees all the Tibetan monasteries in Tibet and the Taoist Association of China.
