Historic agreement between the Vatican and China

The Vatican has a preliminary agreement with the Chinese regime over the appointment of bishops. The Holy see hopes that the agreement will contribute to the existence of the Church in China.

It was Antoine Camilleri, the vicesecretaris of the Secretariat for the Relations with the Other States of the Holy see, and the Chinese deputy minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Chao, that the agreement on Saturday in Beijing have signed.

The historic agreement follows, according to the Vatican on a ” long process of careful negotiations, and provides for the possibility of periodic evaluations on its application’.

“It’s about the appointment of bishops, a matter of great importance for the existence of the Church, and creates the conditions for more cooperation at the bilateral level, it sounds in a statement.

In China, live to be about 12 million catholics. The religion is recognized in China but it is believers are not easily made. Previous year, reported China Aid, a christian ngo for the defense of human rights, that the geloofsvervolging in China in the past year was strongly increased. President Xi Jinping seeks the religious groups to sinificeren (= verchinezen) and fully in line with the Chinese culture, was the criticism.

There was advance criticism of the next chord. Critics find that the Vatican sell it to the communist regime in Beijing. So would the bishops by Beijing were appointed and consequently excommunicated by the Vatican, in honor be restored.