A decade into President Xi Jinping’s campaign to “Sinicize” religion, China’s estimated 12 million Catholics find themselves caught between two authorities, neither of which appears willing to defend their freedom. A new report from Human Rights Watch documents an accelerating crackdown on underground Catholic communities, those that refuse to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party and worship outside the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

The 2018 agreement between the Vatican and Beijing, which gave China the right to propose candidates for bishop subject to a papal veto, was sold as a pragmatic compromise. In practice, Human Rights Watch found, it has provided legal cover for the demolition of churches, the arrest and forced disappearance of underground bishops, and relentless pressure on congregations to submit to state control.

No pope has ever exercised the veto, even after Beijing unilaterally appointed bishops in violation of the agreement’s terms. Pope Leo XIV, who took office in May 2025, has approved all five of Beijing’s subsequent appointments.

The tools of repression are varied and intrusive. Clergy must now submit their passports for state approval before any travel, including personal trips. Priests’ sermons require advance clearance from authorities. Cameras have been installed inside some churches. Children are barred from entering church premises in many localities. A classified internal document reviewed by Human Rights Watch states that parents must not provide home-based religious education to their children, and directs schools to encourage pupils to inform on those who do.

The Vatican has not responded to Human Rights Watch’s request for comment. Until it does, the underground faithful, surveilled, harassed and slowly erased from the religious landscape, have reason to feel abandoned by Rome as well as Beijing.

Sources: Human Rights Watch report, April 2026; China Aid; Vatican-China Provisional Agreement on Bishops, 2018 (renewed through 2028)