A relationship between the Vatican and China can be mutually beneficial, even though both sides approach a deal from differing perspectives. China sees the relationship as transactional and goal political. The Vatican desires relationship and the goal is religious. the Vatican’s approach is to focus an what the two have in common rather than differences.
The Vatican is walking a fine line and China challenges the relationship with religious persecution throughout the country. As of 2018, it was estimated that Chinese authorities may have detained hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other ethnic Turkic Muslims, Christians as well as some foreign citizens such as Kazakhstanis, who are being held in these secretive internment camps which are located throughout the region. Here is a BBC article summarizing the indoctrination camps.
I have been hearing concerns about the Vatican-China deal, but I didn’t know much about it. This Podcast from “Inside the Vatican” provides a very good overview…
When you cross th river, you walk slow and feel the stones under your feet as you go.
Chinese proverb
Here is a more in-depth review of Catholicism in China:
