China Persecuting Catholic Bishops

Pope Francis remains enthusiastic about the Vatican’s provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. He recently told journalists it is a “good result” of dialogue. Yet repression against the Catholic Church in China has intensified since the deal was signed in 2018.

At least ten Chinese Catholic bishops, all Vatican-approved, are currently in indefinite detention, have disappeared or been forced out of their episcopal posts, or are under open-ended investigation by security police. To evade Western sanctions, the Chinese Communist Party uses less bloody and more hidden methods of coercion against these bishops than the show trials and physical torture of the Mao era.

About the Author

Nina Shea

Nina Shea is director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and author of the new report “Ten Persecuted Catholic Bishops in China”

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Pope Francis remains enthusiastic about the Vatican’s provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. He recently told journalists it is a “good result” of dialogue. Yet repression against the Catholic Church in China has intensified since the deal was signed in 2018.

At least ten Chinese Catholic bishops, all Vatican-approved, are currently in indefinite detention, have disappeared or been forced out of their episcopal posts, or are under open-ended investigation by security police. To evade Western sanctions, the Chinese Communist Party uses less bloody and more hidden methods of coercion against these bishops than the show trials and physical torture of the Mao era.