A global rights body has called on the pope to champion religious freedom in China while urging the Vatican to secure the release of forcibly disappeared Catholic bishops in the country.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its Oct. 28 statement, called on Pope Francis and the Vatican to engage with China to increase freedom of worship in the communist-ruled nation.
Francis’ “leadership for religious freedom is sorely needed to counter the Chinese government’s increasing persecution of all religious believers in the country,” said Maya Wang, an associate China director at HRW.
“The Vatican’s renewed agreement with China will be a wasted opportunity if it doesn’t bring improvements for religious freedom in China,” Wang added.
On Oct. 22, the Vatican and the Chinese government renewed the 2018 Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of bishops for the third time. The agreement was renewed earlier in 2020 and 2022.
The agreement, which is not made public, ended a decades-long standoff over who had the authority to appoint bishops in China.
Under the agreement, Beijing proposes the names of future prelates to the Vatican, while the Pope retains the power to veto unsuitable appointments, HRW said.
The Vatican has never exercised its power to veto bishop appointments even while China had unilaterally appointed bishops in 2022 and 2023.
“Since the 2018 agreement, the two parties have agreed on the appointment of 10 bishops; covering about a third of the over 90 dioceses in China that remain without a bishop,” HRW said.
The rights group also urged the Vatican to engage with China to secure the release of forcibly disappeared Catholic bishops in the country.
“The Vatican should make securing the release of its bishops a top priority in its relationship with the Chinese government,” Wang said.
Citing the US-based Hudson Institute, HRW pointed out that bishops James Su Zhimin, Augustine Cui Tai, Julius Jia Zhiguo, Joseph Zhang Weizhu, Peter Shao Zhumin, and Thaddeus Ma Daqin were all forcibly disappeared.
The rights group also alleged that the Chinese government under President Xi Jinping is “increasing efforts to tighten already stringent controls over religions in China.”
According to HRW, Chinese authorities have restricted the religious practice of five officially recognized religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism – in officially approved premises.
The government retains control over religious bodies’ personnel appointments, publications, finances, and seminary applications, HRW said.
HRW also said that the government has pressured the country’s estimated 12 million Catholics to worship in official churches under the leadership of the state-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
The Catholic church is split into two in China with a state-sanctioned one that closely aligns with the government’s “Sinicization” policy and “underground” churches that are not registered or approved by the government.
Sinicization is a political ideology that aims to impose social principles on individuals and organizations to ensure utmost loyalty to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
HRW accused China of persecuting Catholics who have refused to worship in its state-sanctioned churches, attend underground “house churches,” or pledge allegiance only to the pope.
The rights group also pointed out that Chinese authorities have demolished hundreds of church buildings or the crosses atop them, prevented adherents from gathering in unofficial churches, and have restricted access to the Bible.
Authorities have also confiscated unauthorized religious materials and banned Bible and religious apps, HRW alleged.
Citing the pope’s remarks that the China-Vatican agreement aims to benefit the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese people, HRW emphasized that “gaining access to China should not come at the expense of speaking out on human rights violations, including freedom of religion.”
Source: Union of Catholic Asian News