Vatican – China: provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops is extended

Vatican, Tuesday, October 22, 2024 (REI): The Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops is renewed for the third time.

According to a statement from the Vatican Press Office on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, “In view of the consensus reached for the effective application of the Provisional Agreement on the appointment of Bishops, after due consultations and evaluations, the Holy See and China has, as of today, agreed to extend its validity for four years.”

The statement further said that “the Holy See is committed to pursuing a respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese side, in the interest of the Catholic Church in China and all the Chinese people, and in view of the further development of bilateral relations.” .

third renewal

This is the third renewal of the agreement, which when signed on September 22, 2018 opened a historic chapter in relations between the Holy See and China and brings all the bishops of the Church in China into full hierarchical communion with the Dad. permission to stay. The new signing by both parties of the provisional agreement – which will be valid for the next 4 years from today – occurred exactly two years after the first renewal on October 22, 2020 for a period of two years.

a new scenario

The temporary agreement ended decades of appointing bishops without papal consent, fundamentally changing the landscape of the past six years. Since then, about ten bishops have been named and consecrated, and Beijing has officially recognized the public role of some previously unrecognized bishops.

The presence of bishops from mainland China at Vatican synods and other meetings in Europe and America, as well as the presence of young people at World Youth Day in Lisbon last year, and in recent years also of Chinese believers, indicate a new cooperation. participate in general participation in the apostolic visits of Pope Francis to the East.