As the world rushed to pay tribute to Pope Francis following his death, the response has been comparatively muted in China \u2013 an officially atheist state with millions of Catholics whose government has had a difficult and complex relationship with the Vatican. <\/p>\n
In the passing of Pope Francis, Beijing loses a well-respected global leader who had pushed the Vatican closer to China\u2019s Communist Party leadership than any of his predecessors. <\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Chinese state-controlled media\u2019s coverage on his death has been terse, and more than 20 hours after the Vatican\u2019s announcement of his passing neither Beijing nor China\u2019s own state-sanctioned Catholic Church had issued an official statement. <\/p>\n
While condolences from the government are ultimately expected \u2013 likely via a foreign ministry spokesperson per precedent \u2013 China\u2019s minimalist response underscores the sensitivity of ties between the atheist ruling Communist Party and the Holy See. <\/p>\n
The Vatican has not maintained formal diplomatic relations with China since 1951, when the newly established communist regime broke ties and expelled the papal nuncio, the Holy See\u2019s envoy. <\/p>\n
Instead, the Vatican remains one of a dwindling number of countries \u2013 and the only one in Europe \u2013 that recognizes the sovereignty of Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy Beijing claims its own. <\/p>\n
Taiwan\u2019s President Lai Ching-te offered \u201csincerest condolences on behalf of the people of Taiwan\u201d over the Pope\u2019s death soon after the Vatican\u2019s announcement, while the island\u2019s foreign ministry said Taipei would send an envoy to the pontiff\u2019s funeral. <\/p>\n
That diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan has remained a sore point for Beijing as it feuded with the Vatican for decades over who gets to appoint Catholic bishops in China. Pope Francis had attempted to address the issue with a landmark \u2013 although controversial \u2013 deal with the Chinese government as he pushed for better ties. <\/p>\n
In China, the ruling Communist Party keeps a tight grip on religion, fearing challenges to its authority, and allows worship only at state-controlled churches. <\/p>\n
For decades, China\u2019s state-sanctioned Catholic churches had been run by bishops appointed by Beijing, until the two sides reached an agreement under Pope Francis in 2018. Details of the controversial accord have never been made public and many within China\u2019s underground congregations who have remained loyal to Rome and long faced persecution fear being abandoned. <\/p>\n
The deal, which is part of Pope Francis\u2019s vision to expand the Catholic Church\u2019s following across the world, aimed to help the Vatican gain access to potentially millions of converts across China. It was renewed in 2020 and 2022, and in October last year, both sides agreed to extend it for another four years. <\/p>\n
But critics have questioned why the church, historically a defender of human rights and Christian values, would willingly join forces with the Chinese government, which under leader Xi Jinping has further curtailed religious freedom. Much of that criticism of the deal has come from within the Catholic Church itself. <\/p>\n
The Vatican insists the deal is already paying off and hopes to open a permanent office in China. That has left Catholics in Taiwan wondering what will happen to them should the Vatican ever switch recognition. <\/p>\n
Catholicism is one of five state-recognized faiths in China, where religious practice is strictly controlled by the Communist Party, which asserts its supremacy over all aspects of life. <\/p>\n
By official count, there are about 6 million Catholics in China, but the number may be higher when counting those who practice at underground churches to avoid Beijing\u2019s watchful eye. <\/p>\n
Francis had repeatedly expressed his wish to make a trip to China \u2013 a country no pope has ever visited. Chinese Catholics will remember him as the first pope to have ever been authorized to fly over Chinese airspace. <\/p>\n
On his way to South Korea in 2014, Pope Frances sent a radio message to Xi when flying over China: \u201cUpon entering Chinese airspace, I extend my best wishes to your excellency and your fellow citizens, and I invoke divine blessings of peace and wellbeing upon the nation.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 2023, during his visit to neighboring Mongolia, Francis made a rare move to send a \u201cwarm greeting to the noble Chinese people.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTo the entire people I wish the best, go forward, always progress. And to the Chinese Catholics, I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens,\u201d he said at the end of his Sunday Mass in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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