Pope Francis Renews Church Agreement With Beijing Despite U.S. Protests

The Holy See renewed a 2018 agreement with Beijing on Thursday agreeing to split authority on nominating bishops to the Catholic Church in China.

The agreement has never been published, and its details remain secret to all but the Vatican and the Chinese government. When the deal was negotiated in 2018, Pope Francis had aimed to bring together Chinese Catholics who were then split between state-sanctioned and underground churches. Francis reportedly ceded some of the Vatican’s authority over appointing bishops to China’s Catholic churches to do so, though it remains unclear how much.