Vatican and China reach compromise on selection of bishops

Negotiators for the Vatican and Beijing have reached a compromise on who selects bishops in China, said people familiar with the matter, potentially marking a major step toward ending six decades of estrangement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

If Pope Francis and Chinese leaders sign off on the proposed deal, the Pope would accept eight bishops ordained by the Chinese government without the Vatican’s permission. 

But the deal would leave many other issues unresolved, including the role of China’s state-run Catholic institutions.

Negotiators are waiting for the Pope’s decision. If he agrees, the final decision will be up to Beijing.

It would be a diplomatic breakthrough for the Pope, who has eagerly pursued an opening to China that eluded his predecessors, though re-establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Vatican severed by Beijing in 1951, would remain a distant goal.

Vatican officials, however, are bracing for strong protests from Chinese Catholics in the so-called underground Church, some of whose members have suffered imprisonment or other punishment for defying government control of the Church, and who could regard the agreement as a lopsided win for Beijing and hence a betrayal of their fidelity.

The deal would defer many thorny issues, including the legal status of underground Chinese bishops loyal to Rome, who currently operate without government approval.

The agreement would also mean the end of Vatican approval for ordinations of underground bishops, meaning that all new leaders of the Catholic hierarchy in China would be men acceptable to Beijing.

Vatican negotiators aren’t happy about the deal but consider it the best they can hope for at this time, according to people familiar with the matter.