This week, Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan to serve the Archdiocese of Fuzhou, China. The move was celebrated in some circles as diplomatic progress. But for China’s underground Catholic Church, it’s not a victory. It’s another reminder that Rome is partnering with the Chinese Communist Party—the world’s leading violator of human rights and religious freedom, and the same regime that has brutalized their communities for decades.
The Vatican’s secretive deal with the Chinese Communist Party, signed in 2018 and renewed twice, gives Beijing a powerful hand in naming Catholic bishops. The Holy See says it’s about unity. But in practice, it rewards a government that tears down churches, jails priests, bans children from Mass, and rewrites the Bible to suit communist propaganda.
China’s goal is not religious coexistence. It’s total control. Under the banner of “Sinicization,” the regime has forced churches to fly the national flag, surveilled congregations, and required clergy to pledge loyalty to the Party before preaching the Gospel. The persecution is systematic and unrelenting.
In one state-approved textbook, the story of Jesus and the adulterous woman ends with Jesus stoning her himself. That’s how far China is willing to go to turn Christianity into a tool of the state.
And the Vatican continues to cooperate.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 92-year-old conscience of the Church in Hong Kong, has warned for years that this deal abandons the very believers who have remained loyal to Rome through suffering and fear. His pleas have been dismissed. Meanwhile, underground Catholics, those who refuse to register with the state-run “Patriotic Catholic Association,” are left to face harassment and imprisonment, with no defense from the global Church they gave everything to serve.
Instead of standing with the persecuted, Rome is negotiating with the persecutors.
This is not just a matter of Church governance. It’s a matter of truth. You cannot stand for religious freedom while cutting deals with the world’s leading violator of it. You cannot claim to serve the Gospel while legitimizing a regime that rewrites it.
The Vatican should end this agreement immediately. It should speak clearly against China’s war on religion. It should restore and support the underground bishops who’ve paid the price for their faith. And it should condemn, without qualification, China’s attempts to edit Scripture and silence the Church.
The Body of Christ is not a diplomatic bargaining chip. The underground Church in China deserves courage from Rome, not compromise.
To those believers hiding in house churches, facing harassment, raids, and arrests: we haven’t forgotten you. And we won’t be quiet.
