Panel speaks out against China-Vatican deal

VATICAN CITY — Members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom criticized a recently renewed Vatican deal with China, saying it emboldens the Chinese government to crackdown on Christian communities.

The secretive provisional agreement, originally signed in 2018 and renewed recently, allows Beijing to have a say in the appointment of bishops in the officially recognized church. Catholic officials hope the agreement will help to reconcile the government-approved church and the Catholic community, known as the underground church, which is led by priests sanctioned by the Vatican.

But last week some members of the U.S. Commission for International

Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan federal commission tasked with reporting to Congress and the administration on the state of religious freedom in the world, spoke out against

the agreement, claiming it has only made the situation worse for Christians in China.

Stephen Schneck, a USCIRF commissioner who served in the Obama White House’s faith-based partnership office, says reports show that the conditions of Catholics in China have significantly worsened over the past four years since the agreement was signed. “So much worse, in fact, that we think the agreement no longer makes any sense,” he told Religion News Service.

An advocate for Catholic social justice and former dean at the Catholic University of America, Schneck said he is especially concerned about the situation of 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, who was arrested along with five others by Chinese authorities in May for a bureaucratic error in a humanitarian fund viewed as a danger to China’s national security.

Zen has been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom in China and a strong critic of the

Vatican agreement with Beijing. He played a crucial role in the wave of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2020 protesting the broadly written Chinese National Security Laws, which strongly limit the right to assembly. Zen’s trial resumed late last month, only days after the Vatican-China agreement was renewed.

“I don’t think that we cannot notice the timing of the restart of this trial,” Schneck said, adding that “it’s not a good sign.”

Vatican officials, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, defended the deal by stating that, while not perfect, it keeps a channel open for dialogue with Beijing and has led to short-term positive results with the appointment of six bishops recognized by the pope and the Communist Party.

Associated Press file photo Cardinal Joseph Zen has been a vocal critic of the Beijing and Hong Kong governments.