The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has consecrated Father Wu Jianlin as auxiliary bishop of Shanghai with approval from Pope Leo XIV under the renewed 2018 Vatican–China agreement. The CCP claims control over every aspect of life in China, economy, communication, law, reproduction, and religion, which it views as a threat since, under communist ideology, no authority can stand above the Party.
The Catholic Church presents a particular challenge for Beijing. Like any religion, it asserts that God’s authority supersedes that of the state, but it also recognizes the primacy of Rome and communion with the Vatican, acknowledging not only a spiritual power but an earthly one beyond Party control. Beijing cannot tolerate such dual allegiance.
Thus, while China allows a form of Catholicism under strict limits, it is not the Roman Catholic Church but the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CPCA), a Party-controlled body requiring members to pledge independence from Rome. The 2018 Vatican–China agreement claims CPCA bishops are “in communion with Rome,” yet this creates a contradiction: they must publicly reject papal authority to remain legal in China, even as the Vatican recognizes them as legitimate.
Relations between the Communist Party and the Vatican remain complex and contentious. Father Wu Jianlin, a member of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CPCA)—the Party’s body controlling the Church, was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Shanghai with Pope Leo XIV’s approval under the renewed Vatican–China agreement. Jianlin was “elected” by the CPCA during the papal vacancy following Pope Francis’s death and approved by the Vatican in August 2025. The ceremony was led by Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, whom Beijing had installed in Shanghai without Vatican consent in 2023 but who was later recognized by the Holy See.
The CPCA requires clergy to pledge “independence from the Holy See,” a demand fundamentally incompatible with Catholic doctrine. China officially recognizes only five religions, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Taoism—and only state-sanctioned “patriotic associations” may hold services. The constitution limits protections to vaguely defined “normal religious activities” and bans “foreign domination” of religion, making any unregistered church illegal. For Catholics, this means only CPCA churches are lawful, and all must renounce papal authority.
In 2016, the CPCA reaffirmed its principle of “independence and self-governance,” calling it “the foundation of the Church’s existence.” A Party official bluntly instructed Chinese Catholics to “stay away from Rome” and “run their Church independently.”
Pope Benedict XVI directly challenged this in his 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics, declaring that the CPCA’s goal of independence and self-management was “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” He emphasized that while the Church respects civil authority in secular matters, only the Pope holds authority in ecclesial ones. Benedict called the Patriotic Association’s control of bishop appointments “one of the most delicate problems” in Vatican–Sino relations and described the CPCA as “an organization incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
To grasp the importance of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter, one must understand the origins and purpose of China’s “underground Catholic Church.” In 1958, Mao Zedong established the state-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), splitting the Church in two. Catholics who refused to join the CPCA remained loyal to Rome, forming the underground Church, which has since struggled to maintain independence from state control.
The CPCA requires clergy to pledge independence from the Holy See, a demand faithful Catholics rejected at great cost. After bishops refused to comply, Beijing expelled the papal envoy and imprisoned Shanghai’s Cardinal Ignatius Kung for thirty years for refusing to renounce papal authority. Since then, the regime has sought to sever Chinese Catholics from the pope and bring the Church fully under Communist control.
By 2010, an estimated forty bishops ordained without CPCA approval operated unofficially in communion with Rome. Today, roughly six million Chinese Catholics belong to the underground Church, alongside another six million in the state-sanctioned church. Underground Catholics worship in unofficial house churches that remain loyal to the Vatican.
Their faithfulness has come at a high price. The government has raided underground churches, arrested clergy, and detained worshippers who refuse to register with the CPCA. Several bishops—including James Su Zhimin, Augustine Cui Tai, Julius Jia Zhiguo, Joseph Zhang Weizhu, Peter Shao Zhumin, and Thaddeus Ma Daqin, have faced imprisonment, torture, or forced disappearance. Since the 1990s, Beijing has shifted from overt brutality to subtler forms of harassment to avoid Western criticism.
The underground Church endures because its members refuse to compromise core Catholic doctrine. They reject pledging independence from Rome, accepting Party control over ordination and preaching, or submitting to “Sinicization,” the CCP’s effort to reshape religion according to communist ideology. For these Catholics, declaring the Party superior to God or the Pope would be apostasy. Their continued defiance represents the price of faithfulness.
Pope Benedict XVI defended the underground Church, calling its clandestine existence “not a normal feature of the Church’s life,” but urging authorities to recognize its bishops “for civil effects” so that “the faithful may be able to express their faith freely.” The underground Church continues to exist because Catholics chose persecution over apostasy, remaining loyal to Rome despite decades of repression.
The 2018 Vatican–China agreement, whose full text has never been made public, failed to secure legal recognition or protection for the underground Church that remained loyal to Rome. After the deal, the Vatican withdrew support from the underground community, leaving many of its leaders vulnerable.
Chinese authorities subsequently rounded up underground clergy, warning that they would defy the pope if they continued baptizing, ordaining priests, or holding services in unregistered churches. At least ten bishops are now believed to be in indefinite detention.
The agreement’s focus on bishop appointments appears to have excluded guarantees for the safety of these underground clergy, a glaring omission that has drawn sharp criticism within the Church. Many believe the pact effectively gave Beijing freedom to suppress faithful Catholics under the cover of diplomatic cooperation.
Defenders of the agreement see it as the better of two terrible alternatives. Without the agreement, they argue, the Catholic Church would be driven out of China completely. By entering into the agreement, the Vatican maintains communications with Beijing in the hopes that the true Roman Catholic Church may someday be allowed to operate openly in China.
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