VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Ahead of the Sino-Vatican deal’s anticipated renewal later this year, the Vatican’s foreign minister has described the secretive arrangement as “a useful means” to appoint bishops, while admitting some limitations.
In a recent interview with Jesuit-run America Magazine, Archbishop Paul Gallagher expressed a hope for the third renewal of the so-called temporary deal made between communist China and the Vatican.
“I think that we still believe that the agreement is a useful means for the Holy See and the Chinese authorities to deal with the question of the appointment of bishops,” Gallagher stated.
The English prelate is the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations within the Secretariat of State, and is otherwise known as the Holy See’s foreign minister.
He alluded to some aspects of the deal which the Vatican does not find entirely satisfactory, saying that “we would like to see it working better, with more results, and we still believe that it is capable of improvement.”
“Because of that,” Gallagher said, he did not see “any possibility” of ending the deal. “Since we believe that improvements could and should be made, it does not seem appropriate to decide finally,” he continued.
READ: Pope Francis’ deal with Communist China has led to greater persecution of Catholics
First signed in 2018 and later renewed in 2020 and 2022, the deal is due to be renewed this fall. LifeSiteNews has made a number of requests to the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, in recent weeks, asking for comment on the likely renewal of the deal, but has received no answer.
Gallagher, aged 70, denied that there was any other focus of Vatican-China discussion aside from the issue of appointing bishops. This, he said, with a notably guarded and political air maintained throughout the whole interview, was largely due to Beijing: “There are at the moment no significant negotiations on other issues,” the English prelate stated.
A 40-year veteran of the Vatican’s diplomatic service, Gallagher has served as papal nuncio in Burundi, Guatemala, and Australia, before Pope Francis called him back from Australia to assume his current role. He now works closely with Parolin, with both prelates having entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in the mid 1980’s.
In July 2023, Parolin stated the Holy See hopes for “the opening of an established liaison office of the Holy See in China” which “would not only favor dialogue with the civil authorities, but also contribute to full reconciliation within the Chinese Church and its journey towards a desirable normality.”
But Gallagher told America Magazine that while “we have always believed that this would be useful,” there was no “willingness or openness” from the Chinese authorities on the point.
Contrary to Gallagher’s opinion of the benefit such an office would present, local clergy are concerned about the impact of such a development. A newly published report by Frances Hui detailed how such an office raises “concerns about the potential legalization of state-controlled entities. Hong Kong clerics fear pressure to join associations pledging fidelity to the government.”
READ: Catholic diocese of Hong Kong ‘working with CCP’ to effect ‘Sinicization’: report
The highly secretive Sino-Vatican deal has been styled by Hong Kong’s emeritus Cardinal Joseph Zen as an “incredible betrayal,” and Zen has further accused the Vatican of “selling out” Chinese Catholics. Indeed, in the nearly six years since the deal was first implemented, persecution of Catholics – particularly “underground” Catholics who do not accept the state-controlled church – has demonstrably increased.
When asked if the Chinese government had made any “movement” on the question of the underground church, Gallagher told America that “we believe in talking about the normalization of the situation.” But when pushed for a clear answer, he replied: “We are dealing with what we are dealing with!”
Speaking in July 2023, Parolin defended the secretive nature of the deal, stating that “the text is confidential because it has not yet been finally approved.” The deal, which “revolves around the basic principle of consensuality of decisions affecting bishops,” is effected by “trusting in the wisdom and goodwill of all,” Parolin said.
The deal itself is believed to recognize the state-approved version of the Catholic Church and allows the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to appoint bishops. The Pope reportedly maintains a veto power, although in practice it is the CCP that has control. It also allegedly allows for the removal and replacement of legitimate bishops by CCP-approved bishops.
Francis, Parolin, and Gallagher have taken a unified stance in defending the deal when questioned about it. Of those three, Gallagher has used a slightly more free hand in offering cautious criticisms of the deal, stating last March that “obviously, the objective is to get the best deal possible, which certainly this agreement is not the best deal possible because of the other party.”
READ: Leading Vatican diplomat says China deal the result of decades work but ‘not the best’
In an early defense of the deal, Pope Francis described it as forming a “new chapter of the Catholic Church in China.” But China observers, religious freedom watchdogs, and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been vocal in critiquing the deal. In 2018, China expert Steven Mosher described it as “perhaps the most controversial of a papacy dogged by controversy.”
The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China wrote in 2020 that the persecution resulting from the deal is “of an intensity not seen since the Cultural Revolution.” The commission’s 2022 report noted that the CCP “exerted ongoing pressure on unregistered Catholic communities in 2021 and 2022,” as “[o]fficial efforts to assert control over Chinese Catholic leadership and religious practice have continued.”