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People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
relations as the Holy See instead recognizes the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...
as the representative of China. However, in September 2018 the People's Republic of China and the Holy See signed an agreement allowing the
pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
to appoint and veto
bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
approved by the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
(CCP). The agreement was renewed for another two years in October 2020.


History

The
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
government broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951 after a complicated incident. Throughout 1950 and 1951, the People's Republic of China had been putting pressure on the Vatican by threatening a breakaway of "independent Catholics", but many priests opposed the movement, and
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
sought a middle ground. A deadly controversy was then manufactured: a priest working at the Holy See internunciature (legation) had thrown out an old 1930s-era mortar in a trash pile out of his home. A businessman named Antonio Riva discovered the mortar and took a non-functioning piece of it back to his house to display as an antique. When Communist officials saw Riva's curio in his home, they arrested him for conspiracy to assassinate
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
, which Riva denied. Riva was executed and the Holy See's diplomatic mission was banished from the country for "espionage". Tarcisio Martina, the regional apostolic prefect, was sentenced to life in prison and died in 1961, while four other "conspirators" were given shorter sentences. The Beijing government has set two conditions for reestablishing the relations: that the Holy See "not interfere in religious matters in China" and that, in line with Beijing's
One-China policy The term One China may refer to one of the following: * The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...
, it break the ties with the Taipei government. Such ties were established after the expulsion of Archbishop Riberi, and have been maintained at the level of ''
chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassado ...
'' ever since the United Nations' recognition of the Beijing government as the government of China. The Holy See has indicated that it would have no difficulty about the second condition, but requires discussion about the concrete meaning of the first. The main point of contention concerns the appointing of
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
in mainland China, who are now named by the
Catholic Patriotic Association The Catholic Patriotic Association (), abbreviated CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the Ch ...
(CPA), at some periods in agreement with the Holy See, at other times in direct opposition to its declared wishes. The PRC government's position is that bishops should be appointed by itself; the Holy See's position is that bishops can only be appointed by the Pope, while envisaging in some cases a form of consultation with the civil authorities.


2007 letter to Chinese Catholics

The Holy See made efforts in 2007 to create formal ties with the PRC. Theodore McCarrick had been an envoy as part of such efforts. High-ranking bishops in the Roman Catholic Church implied that such a diplomatic move was possible, predicated on the PRC granting more freedom of religion and interfering less in the hierarchy of the church in mainland China. In September 2007, the appointment of Father Joseph Li Shan by the PRC authorities was said to be "tacitly approved" by the Vatican. In May 2008, the China Philharmonic Orchestra from mainland China performed a concert for the Pope inside the Vatican, prompting analysts to speak of a "growing rapprochement" between the two countries. On 8 April 2011 the Financial Times reported that Baron Von Pfetten organised the first major breakthrough discussion at leadership level during a three days closed door seminar in his French château where a senior Chinese visiting delegation met with Monseigneur Balestrero the Holy See Undersecretary for Relations with States.
Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...
, Pope since March 2013, said in a news media interview that he wished to visit China and improve the China-Holy See relationship. It was also reported that on a Papal visit to
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
in August 2014 China opened up its airspace to the Pope's plane, and while crossing the Chinese airspace the Pope sent a telegram expressing his "best wishes" to the Chinese people.


2018 Holy See–China agreement

In January 2018, the Church was close to negotiating a deal with China that allows China to have more control over the underground churches and allows the Vatican to have more control over the appointment of bishops. While this did not amount to the establishment of formal diplomatic ties, this was seen as a huge step towards formal recognition. However, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the former Bishop of Hong Kong, regarded the warming of diplomatic relationships as selling out the Catholic Church in China, as the process involves the resignation of several bishops of the underground church. A vigil was held by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese in response from 12 to 13 February in St Bonaventure Church. On 22 September 2018, the
Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mi ...
and the Vatican signed a historic agreement concerning the appointment of bishops in China.
China's foreign ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led b ...
said that the agreement works to maintain communications and improve relations between the parties. They did not establish diplomatic relations and the Vatican maintained diplomatic ties with the Republic of China on Taiwan, which the People's Republic of China does not recognize. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke described the agreement as "not political but pastoral, allowing the faithful to have bishops who are in communion with Rome but at the same time recognized by Chinese authorities." While the agreement states that China will recommend bishops before they are appointed by the pope, it also stipulates that the pope has authority to veto a bishop China recommends. Francis then approved seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing, after withdrawing Church censures against those six and one recently deceased bishop, who had all received episcopal consecration without papal approval. On 23 September, the Catholic Church in China pledged to remain loyal to the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
. On 26 September, in a letter to Chinese Catholics, Pope Francis wrote: The agreement reflects the long-standing desire of the Chinese government to end the Holy See's recognition of the government in Taiwan, even as the Chinese Communist Party of General Secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
continues the campaign, launched in the spring of 2018, to increase control of foreign religious institutions. In October 2018, local Chinese government officials destroyed two Marian shrines, one in Shanxi and one in Guizhou. While some have raised concerns that China was no longer enforcing the terms of the 2018 agreement, both parties extended the agreement in October 2020 for two more years. In July 2022, Pope Francis stated that he hoped the Provisional Agreement would be renewed in October 2022, describing the agreement as "moving well." As of July 2022, seven bishops before 2018 were brought into communion with the Vatican and only six new bishops have been appointed under the 2018 agreement. In October 2022, the agreement was renewed for another two years. In November 2022, the Vatican accused the Chinese government of violating the terms of the agreement.


See also

*
Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan The Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference (CRBC; ), is the episcopal conference of Taiwan and is the highest organ of the Roman Catholic Church in Greater China. Catholics in the independent jurisdictions of Hong Kong, Macau and Mongolia are r ...
*
Roman Catholicism in China The Catholic Church in China (called Tiānzhǔ Jiào, 天主敎, literally "Religion of the Lord of Heaven" after the Chinese term for the Christian God) has a long and complicated history. John of Montecorvino was the first Catholic Churc ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:China, People's Republic of - Holy See Relations 1951 in Christianity Bilateral relations of the Holy See
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...