Without taking the special situation into consideration, the communist leadership in Beijing appointed two Catholic priests, who were apparently loyal to the party, as bishops during the vacancy (after the death of Pope Francis and before the election of his successor Pope Leo XIV). The agreement, which has existed between Rome and Beijing since 2018, provides for the confirmation of a bishop’s appointment by the head of the Catholic Church.

On 28 April 2025, priests, religious and Catholic lay representatives were summoned to Shanghai to vote on the appointment of a new auxiliary bishop, according to the online information service AsiaNews. Father Wu Jianlin, currently the Vicar General, was elected with only a handful of few opposing votes. He was already de facto head of the diocese of Shanghai from 2013 to 2023 and has been a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a body controlled by the Communists, for many years.

On 29 April 2025, Father Li Janlin, who is also considered loyal to the party, was finally appointed auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Xinxiang (Henan province). In 2018, he was among the signatories of a circular that banned minors from attending Mass in Henan Province.

In the diocese of Wenzhou (in the south-eastern coastal province of Zhejiang), the police even prevented ‘officially registered’ priests from celebrating a mass in memory of Pope Francis. Many Chinese Catholics, including even some bishops, courageously shared pictures of Pope Francis on their personal social media profiles to mark his death.

Critics of the Vatican’s agreement with Beijing accuse Rome of stabbing underground Christians in the back and at the same time strengthening the position of clergy loyal to the Communist Party.

Michaela Koller
ISHR Religious Freedom Expert