New Delhi: China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is intensifying efforts to bring the country’s state-sanctioned Catholic Church under tighter political control, with new directives requiring clergy and lay leaders to participate in ideological study sessions, implement the policy of the “Sinicisation of religion,” and accept stricter Party oversight.
According to recent announcements by official Catholic organisations in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, churches are increasingly being instructed to conduct political education programmes, study Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speeches, enforce governance mechanisms aligned with CCP policies, and integrate Party directives into church administration.
The CCP recognises only one official Catholic Church in China, overseen by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China. Both institutions operate under the supervision of the CCP rather than the Vatican, while underground Catholic communities that remain loyal to the Holy See continue to face sustained pressure from Chinese authorities.
Political study sessions expanded
According to a July 8 announcement issued by the Guangdong Catholic Church, provincial Catholic authorities recently convened a meeting in Guangzhou directing Catholic organisations, parishes, clergy and key lay members to participate in political study sessions and governance initiatives.
The meeting called for strengthening “political guidance,” tightening internal management and establishing long-term governance mechanisms to implement the CCP’s policy of religious Sinicization and promote what authorities describe as the “strict governance of religion.”
A similar meeting was held in neighbouring Jiangsu Province. According to the official China Catholic website, provincial Catholic leaders met in Nanjing on July 2, where participants were required to study Xi Jinping’s speech marking the CCP’s 105th anniversary, the Party’s newly enacted Ethnic Unity Law, directives issued during a national meeting of religious organisations, and several policy documents released by China’s official Catholic leadership.
Believers familiar with developments inside the official Church say the latest directives represent a broader effort to replace religious autonomy with political loyalty to the CCP. They say churches are now routinely required to organise political education sessions alongside their religious activities.
Church members report that official Catholic organisations increasingly require believers to study Xi Jinping’s speeches and other political directives, while Party disciplinary language has gradually entered church administration.
According to believers, churches are also instructed to study regulations governing religion and make political statements supporting government policies. Political study sessions, they say, have become an increasingly common feature of church life.
Surveillance and restrictions
Believers also say the Chinese government’s control over churches has tightened significantly during the past decade as Beijing continues to advance its policy of the Sinicization of religion, first introduced by Xi Jinping during a national United Front Work Conference in 2015.
Since then, the policy has been incorporated into China’s officially approved religious doctrines and implemented across recognised religious institutions. According to believers, many churches now operate under extensive surveillance. They say authorities have installed multiple surveillance cameras outside church entrances as well as inside church buildings.
While officials describe the cameras as measures for church security, believers contend they are primarily intended to monitor religious activities.
Government oversight, they say, extends beyond surveillance. Authorities do not allow churches to maintain contact with foreign churches, according to believers. They say officials are particularly concerned about interactions with Catholics from Taiwan and South Korea, and churches are prohibited from communicating with them.
Priests have also reportedly been required to surrender their passports and face severe restrictions on overseas travel. Believers say passport applications submitted by priests are generally not approved.
Some believers further claim that if a foreign Catholic telephones a member of a congregation in China, police soon arrive asking detailed questions about the caller’s identity, telephone number and the nature of the conversation.
In Jiangsu Province, parish communities have also begun studying legal and political documents related to religious administration as part of the latest directives.
Believers say implementing Xi Jinping’s speeches has become a major political task for churches. They describe a shift in church life, noting that while churches were previously centred primarily on Mass and confession, they are now expected to cooperate closely with government requirements.
Some believers say many churches increasingly feel less like places devoted solely to faith, although few are willing to publicly object.
Political activities, including national flag-raising ceremonies and the singing of the Chinese national anthem, have also become increasingly common in churches, mosques and Buddhist monasteries. Chinese authorities have additionally ordered architectural changes at some mosques, including the removal of traditional domes.
Pressure on underground Churches
Believers say the current political campaigns inside state-recognised Catholic churches are also laying the groundwork for greater pressure on congregations that continue to operate outside the government’s registration system.
According to church members, authorities first tighten control over official churches before demanding that underground churches adopt the same governance model. Once registered, churches are required to accept management by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Congregations that refuse to register are considered to be operating illegally.
For decades, Beijing has required Catholics to worship only in churches affiliated with the state-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, while underground churches that remain loyal to the Vatican have continued to face pressure from the authorities.
Government scrutiny has also extended to local parish activities.
On November 30, 2025, a Catholic church in Xuchang, Henan Province, allowed minors to enter the church to play piano and participate in worship services, according to ChinaAid, a Texas-based non-profit organisation that advocates for religious freedom in China.
Two days later, the local Catholic Affairs Committee and the Catholic Patriotic Association, both overseen by CCP authorities, ordered the church to suspend services immediately and submit rectification measures. Officials temporarily posted a government closure notice at the church entrance.
Relations between Beijing and the Vatican have remained shaped by a provisional agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops.
In 2018, the Vatican and China signed the agreement governing bishop appointments. The contents of the accord have never been made public, and it has since been renewed several times.
In October 2024, the Vatican announced that both sides had agreed to extend the agreement for another four years.
Some believers maintain that the agreement has enabled the CCP to further marginalise underground churches while presenting the state-controlled Catholic Church as the country’s only legitimate Catholic institution.
Meanwhile, official Catholic organisations continue implementing new Party directives requiring churches to strengthen political education, study Xi Jinping’s speeches and advance the CCP’s policy of the Sinicization of religion as part of their regular administration.
