(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis on Friday said he is “pleased” with the Vatican’s secret deal with Communist China and that its “results are good,” despite reports that the persecution of Catholics has considerably increased since the deal’s onset in 2018.

Asked by journalist Stefania Falasca on his flight from Singapore to Rome whether, regarding the Vatican-China deal, he was “satisfied with the results and dialogue so far,” Francis replied, “Yes, I’m pleased with the dialogues with China. The results are good. Even for the appointment of bishops, things are progressing with goodwill.” 

He continued, “I’ve spoken with the Secretariat of State, and I’m happy with how things are going. As for China, I see China as an ‘ilusión’ (aspiration, ed.), meaning I would like to visit China. It’s a great country, and I admire and respect China.”

Since the approval of the deal, bishops, priests, seminarians, and laity have been arrested, tortured, and imprisoned for not signing up to the Chinese Communist Party-run state church, with Chinese authorities reportedly adding extra pressure onto the faithful Catholics by saying that Pope Francis supports the state church – which, by nature of the 2018 deal, he does.

One example from 2021: Father Joseph Liu of the Diocese of Mindong was detained by police in July and tortured for 10 hours before “six policemen took him by the hand and forced him to sign” his allegiance to the CCP. That very day, Vatican News was full of praise for China, as Bishop Li Hui became the fifth bishop consecrated under the terms of the deal. But as far as the Vatican was concerned, Liu might not even have existed.

“It is hard to know exactly what the Pope means when he says he is pleased with the dialogues with China,” Steven Mosher, China expert and President of the Population Research Institute, told LifeSiteNews. “China appointed a new bishop in Shanghai last year without even consulting with the Vatican.  This was a clear violation of the understanding that the Vatican had supposedly reached with China.”

“The Pope says he has long wanted to visit China, but to what end?” he added. “He would not be able to speak freely to the Chinese people about the Gospel, even if he were inclined to do so.  The control of the Communist Party over the media is absolute.”

The officially secret Vatican-China deal is believed to recognize the state-approved church in China and allows the Chinese Communist Party to appoint bishops. The Pope apparently maintains veto power, although in practice it is the CCP that has control. It also reportedly allows for the removal of legitimate bishops to be replaced by CCP-approved bishops.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state and architect of the deal, has said that it “revolves around the basic principle of consensuality of decisions affecting bishops.”

Speaking in July 2023, Parolin defended the secretive nature of the deal, stating that “the text is confidential because it has not yet been finally approved.”

While Francis and Parolin have consistently defended the deal, the agreement has been decried by the faithful Hong Kong emeritus Cardinal Joseph Zen as an “incredible betrayal.” The much-loved cardinal has further accused the Vatican of “selling out” Chinese Catholics.

In 2018, the prelate called for Parolin to resign, criticizing his “complete surrender” of the Church to the Communist authorities.

“It’s a betrayal of the real Church,” Cardinal Zen then said of the deal in July 2020 before adding: “It’s not an isolated episode. It’s already a long-standing policy of the Vatican not to offend the Chinese government.”

Before the first renewal of the deal in 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that “(t)he Vatican endangers its moral authority, should it renew the deal.” He linked to an article he penned on the subject in which he cited the persecution of Father Paul Zhang Guangjun, who was beaten and “disappeared” for refusing to join the CCP-run Patriotic Catholic Association.

Fr. Guangjun’s story is but one example of how in the nearly six years since the deal was implemented, persecution of Catholics – particularly the “underground” Catholics who do not accept the state-controlled church – has demonstrably increased.

In its 2020 report, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China wrote that the persecution witnessed is “of an intensity not seen since the Cultural Revolution.”

“All bishops who refuse to join the Catholic Patriotic Association are being placed under house arrest, or disappeared, by the CCP,” Mosher told LifeSiteNews this past June. “Although the Vatican  said several years ago  that the Vatican-China agreement does not require anyone to join this schismatic organization, refusal to do so results in persecution and punishment. And the Vatican stands by and does nothing.” 

A series of episcopal appointments since the last renewal of the deal in October 2022 have highlighted the primacy of power wielded by Beijing in the deal. On three known occasions, the CCP “appointed” new bishops or installed them in new dioceses, leaving the Vatican to play catch-up with the events.

Parolin has confirmed to LifeSiteNews that the Holy See intends to renew the deal later this year.