In September, 2018, the Vatican and the Chinese government
reached “a provisional deal” that would end “a decades-old power struggle over
the right to appoint bishops in China.”[1]
In regard to the power struggle itself, the deal “would mark a major victory
for China.”[2]
In regard to spreading Catholicism globally, the Vatican stood to gain both in
terms of souls and money. Protestantism had been spreading fast in China,
whereas the number of Catholics at the time was 10 to 12 million.[3]
The question is therefore whether the Vatican ceded too much for the promise of
access to the world’s most populous nation.
The full essay is at "The Vatican and China Reach a Deal on the Appointment of Bishops."
1. Jason Horowitz and Ian Johnson, “China
and Vatican Reach Deal on Appointment of Bishops,” The New York Times, September 22, 2018.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
