ChinaAid Calls On Pope Leo To Withdraw From Agreement With China

 A nonprofit that advocagtes for human rights in communist China has expressed "deep concern over the ongoing secrecy and consequences of the 2018 Vatican-China agreement." ChinaAid said in a news release that since the signing of the compact, religious persecution in China, particularly against Catholics, has escalated, and not diminished. "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten its control over religious life while the Vatican remains publicly silent," the release declared. The group is calling on the Catholic Church to choose either silence or solidarity with regard to persecuted Christians.

“The CCP has never stopped persecuting Catholic leaders and believers,” said ChinaAid President Dr. Bob Fu. He said that at least ten bishops and priests are imprisoned or missing, churches are still being destroyed. Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin vanished for conducting Mass without state approval. According to ChinaAid, the Vatican’s silence has left China’s underground Catholics feeling betrayed.

On March 23 this year, Chinese special police raided a Catholic prayer site in Shanxi Province during Lent. Worshippers were assaulted, with one father of three left in a coma. The priest and others were arrested. Surveillance in the region has since intensified.

According to ChinaAid, the Vatican-China agreement has also enabled the appointment of government-aligned bishops without the faithful’s consent. Just days before the election of Pope Leo XIV, Beijing’s state sanctioned Church installed two new bishops, thus undermining ecclesiastical autonomy, the advocacy group declared.

Apart from repression of Catholics, Protestant house churches, including the renowned Early Rain Covenant Church, have been forcibly closed. Pastor Wang Yi remains imprisoned for preaching the gospel. Uyghur Muslims continue to endure mass internment, forced labor, and religious persecution in East Turkistan (Xinjiang).

ChinaAid respectfully urged Pope Leo XIV to:

• Reconsider and withdraw from the secretive Vatican-China agreement.

• Publicly defend persecuted believers in China, Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkistan, and Taiwan.

• Refuse to legitimize the CCP’s campaign of religious repression.

Now is the time for courage, the group declared: "The persecuted do not need appeasement; they need truth, hope, and bold advocacy."