POPE XI.

Benedict's letter gives instruction to bishops recognized by the pope after joining the Patriotic Association: They "must increasingly give 'unequivocal signs of full communion with the Successor of Peter.'" Bishop Shen, ordained with papal and government recognition, does not agree. The more the Vatican cedes its moral and spiritual authority, the more China's church will be turned into a party asset, the more uninterested in actual dialogue the CCP will grow, and the less free China's Catholics will be. Pope Benedict XVI, in a 2007 letter laying out fundamental principles for China's Catholic Church, called the Beijing regime's unilateral appointment of Catholic bishops "one of the most delicate problems" in Vatican - Sino relations. FEATURES The Holy See's 2018 provisional agreement with Beijing is failing, but the problems with the Vatican's China policy did not begin five years ago. [Extracted from the article]