The “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy,” which will go into effect May 1, clarified that the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) will select candidates for clergy who will then be “approved and consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference.”
The rules, translated by the religious persecution publication Bitter Winter, make no mention of the Vatican’s role in appointing bishops, despite a deal brokered between Pope Francis and the Chinese government by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The 2018 agreement ended a decade-long power struggle between the Chinese government and the Catholic Church on whether the Chinese government has the power to appoint Catholic bishops.
Under the conditions of the deal, Pope Francis recognized the legitimacy of seven bishops selected and appointed by the authoritarian Chinese government — though the Chinese government has persecuted Christians for decades, particularly after Communists took control of China in 1949.
