Members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom are criticizing the Vatican’s decision to renew its secretive deal with the Chinese government amid Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms.
USCIRF Commissioner David Curry told the Washington Examiner that “USCIRF is disappointed that the Vatican had decided to renew the provisional agreement with the Chinese government on Catholic bishop appointments.” He and other commissioners argue that things have actually gotten worse for Catholics and other Christians and religious minorities in China since the deal was first agreed to four years ago.
The provisional deal between the Vatican and China, the specific terms of which remain a secret, was first agreed to in September 2018 and was renewed for another two years in October 2020. The deal was renewed again last month.
SENATORS CONDEMN CHINA’S PROSECUTION OF CARDINAL ZEN
“USCIRF has observed significant deterioration in religious freedom conditions for all religious minorities, including Protestant Christians and Catholics, during the 10-year rule of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,” Curry said. “The Vatican-China deal … has not produced improvement in religious freedom for Catholics in China. Instead, it is likely that the deal has been used by the Chinese government to justify its crackdown on underground Catholics who refuse to join the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.”
The Vatican announced the renewal of the “Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of Bishops” on Oct. 22, saying that “the Vatican Party is committed to continuing a respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party for a productive implementation of the Accord and further development of bilateral relations, with a view to fostering the mission of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, defended the deal as well.
“Pope Francis — with determination and patient foresight — has decided to continue along this path not under the illusion of finding perfection in human rules, but in the concrete hope of being able to assure Chinese Catholic communities, even in such a complex context, of the guidance of pastors who are worthy and suitable for the task entrusted to them,” Parolin said.
The USCIRF’s 2022 annual report assessed that “despite the Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments, authorities continued to harass and detain underground Catholic priests who refuse to join the state-controlled Catholic association.” The commission added that Beijing “also intensified persecution of Protestants by harassing, detaining, arresting, and physically abusing leaders of Protestant house churches who refuse to join the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement.”
“Authorities throughout China routinely raided churches, detained Christians, and confiscated religious materials,” the USCIRF added. “The government also continued to demolish church buildings and crosses — including the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Xinjiang — under its ‘sinicization of religion’ campaign.”
The USCIRF made similar warnings in 2021 by making clear that “Chinese authorities continued to harass, detain, and torture underground Catholic bishops” despite the Vatican deal.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin spoke about the China-Vatican deal late last month, claiming that “the two sides will continue to maintain close communication and consultation, work for the sound implementation of the provisional agreement, and continuously advance the process of improving relations.”
And ministry official Mao Ning claimed in late September that “the agreement has been successfully implemented thanks to the efforts of both sides.”
The China-Vatican deal’s renewal came just days before the trial against Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen resumed. Zen is being prosecuted by the Chinese government-dominated authorities of the city following his decades of harsh criticism of Beijing’s religious persecution, its extensive human rights abuses, and its growing repression. He is also an outspoken critic of the China-Vatican deal.
The 90-year-old cardinal, along with five co-defendants, was arrested and charged under Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance in May for allegedly failing properly to register the pro-democracy 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal and medical assistance in 2019 and 2020 to jailed protesters who objected to the Chinese government’s increasingly iron-fisted grip on the former British colony. He faces a fine in that case.
Zen is also reportedly being investigated for alleged “collusion with foreign forces” under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
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Another prominent Catholic, Jimmy Lai, is also being prosecuted by the Chinese government. Lai, a former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken pro-democracy voice, was convicted on alleged fraud charges late last month, and he is already serving jail time for his role in Hong Kong’s protests in 2019 and for attending a 2020 vigil for those killed by the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protest clampdown in 1989.
Lai is set to face charges related to “colluding with foreign forces” and putting together “seditious publications” in December, and he faces life in prison.
