China: Pressure on Catholics Escalates Vatican Agreement with Beijing on Bishops Facilitates Crackdown

Why is Pope Leo Silent?

• A decade into President Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization” of religion campaign, Catholic communities across China face tightened ideological control, strict surveillance, and travel restrictions.
• The 2018 Holy See-China agreement on bishops has helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official church.
• The Holy See and other governments should press Beijing to end the persecution of Catholic communities and respect the rights to freedom of religion for all Catholics and other religious beliefs.

(New York) – Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church, Human Rights Watch said today. In recent years, the Chinese government has tightened ideological control, surveillance, and travel restrictions on the country’s estimated 12 million Catholics.

Under President Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization” of religion campaign, which began a decade ago in April 2016, places of worship and religious teachings are expected to reflect Han-centric Chinese culture and Chinese Communist Party ideology. The 2018 Provisional Agreement Regarding the Appointment of Bishops between the Holy See and China, which ended a decades-long dispute over the appointment of bishops in China, has facilitated repression of Catholics in China.

“A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers.”

The Chinese government does not allow independent researchers into China and punishes people for speaking to foreign media or rights groups. Human Rights Watch spoke with nine people outside the country who had firsthand knowledge of Catholic life in China, as well as experts on religious freedom and Catholicism in China. Human Rights Watch also reviewed government documents and articles in the Chinese government press.

On April 7, 2026, Human Rights Watch sent a summary of its findings seeking comment from the Chinese government and the Holy See. Neither has responded.

The Chinese government has long restricted the religious freedom of the country’s Catholics, who are permitted to worship only in official churches under the government-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Most affected are the underground Catholic communities, which refuse to...Read More HERE