Francis’ China Deal Was Rejected By Previous Popes

George Weigel, who wrote a biography of John Paul II, has questioned the imminent deal between the Vatican and China.

Writing on foreignpolicy.com (February 15), Weigel asks the question why the Vatican should trust an agreement with a totalitarian power, given its previous unhappy experiences with Mussolini’s Italy or Hitler’s Germany, both of which systematically violated concordats they concluded with the Holy See.

He points out that John Paul II and Benedict XVI could have had a similar deal with China but refused: “Both declined, because they knew it was not a step toward greater freedom for the Catholic Church in China but a step toward greater Catholic subservience to the Chinese Communist regime.”

Picture: George Weigel, © wikicommons CC BY-SA, #newsLhuthtsxdd