China Catholic Under Pressure

FILE - A man walks out from a pavilion near the Xishiku Catholic Church during a rainy day in Beijing, May 9, 2025.

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China raises pressure on underground Catholics to join official church, Human Rights Watch finds

China raises pressure on underground Catholics to join official church, Human Rights Watch finds

Human Rights Watch, in a detailed new report, says Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church while tightening surveillance and travel restrictions on all of China’s estimated 12 million Catholics. The report says the heightened pressure is part of a decade-old campaign to ensure that religious denominations and independent churches are loyal to the officially atheist Communist Party. China’s Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn’t recognize papal authority and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution.