A New Pope Must Have a New, Pro-Freedom China Policy
On Monday, 6-7pm ET, a few pastors/family members of Zion Church will share the current condition of persecution of Zion Church with Amb Sam Brownback and Nadine Maenza to pray before they fly out to Prague for IRF Alliance summit. Join believers worldwide in a 24-hour prayer livestream for Beijing’s Zion Church, Pastor Jin Mingri, and nearly 30 detained pastors and workers.
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday emphasized the importance of ensuring that religions in China further adapt to the Chinese context. Xi called for providing active guidance to religions so that they can adapt to socialist society while he was presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
The Golden Lampstand Church in Linfen City, Shanxi Province, was handed a harsh sentence June 20. Ten church members were each sentenced to multiple years in prison on charges of “fraud.” Among them, core member Brother Li Shuangping was sentenced to nine years and two months in prison, fined 100,000 yuan — the harshest sentence. The cases of Yang Rongli, the church’s founder, and Pastor Wang Xiaoguang will be handled separately. This trial not only severely violates legal justice but also highlights the Chinese authorities’ increasingly aggressive and unabashed systematic suppression of Christian house churches.
In the Catholic Church of Zhejiang Province, where Bishop Shao is a victim of repression, the priest who administered the “official” diocese is also targeted. Missing since November, he set to go on trial for publishing a book of sacred hymns without permission in another province, while rumours are circulating about his bank accounts. According to some sources, his real crime is insufficient loyalty to the Party.
Despite the agreement with the Vatican, China continues to arrest priests, nuns, and believers who refuse to join the CCP-controlled Patriotic Church.
The conclave that elected the first American pope had another first that few have heard about: a voting cardinal named Stephen Chow who was approved for his current position by the Chinese Communist Party, pursuant to a 2018 pact between the Party and the Vatican. He is, by Chinese law, obliged to “support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party” as part of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. That’s its entity charged with conducting global propaganda and influence operations.
Midland, Texas (May 29, 2025) — ChinaAid expresses deep concern over the ongoing secrecy and consequences of the 2018 Vatican-China agreement. Since its signing, religious persecution in China, particularly against Catholics, has escalated, not diminished. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten its control over religious life while the Vatican remains publicly silent.
On May 18, the inaugural Mass for our new pope took place in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. As the world watched, Pope Leo XIV prayed at the tomb of St. Peter and received the “Fisherman’s Ring,” symbolizing his status as the “Successor of St. Peter.”
If the new pontiff wants to restore trust in the Catholic Church, he must renounce the secret agreement with China and embrace the persecuted faithful.
The atheistic Marxist Chinese Communist Party has long sought to destroy religion in China and, most especially, the Roman Catholic Church. In 2018, the Vatican became complicit in the CCP’s crimes against Chinese believers and their clergy, churches and Bible – all of which Pope Francis studiously ignored.