Pope Francis urges Chinese Catholics to overcome divisions for ‘new chapter of cooperation’

Pope Francis urged Chinese Catholics on Wednesday to trust him and make concrete gestures of reconciliation following a landmark deal over bishop appointments that is aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing.

In a letter to the Chinese faithful, Francis also called for greater dialogue between local priests and government authorities to ensure that ordinary church activities could be carried out, while encouraging the opening of “a new chapter” in official bilateral cooperation.

He said the aim was to “initiate an unprecedented process that we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation”.

The letter follows the deal signed on Saturday governing the naming of bishops in China, an issue that has vexed relations for decades. The agreement regularises the status of seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing over the years without papal consent, and sets out a process of dialogue to name new ones. Francis said he, not Beijing, would ultimately name new bishops.

While the deal addressed a crucial aspect of church governance in China, it did not address more pastoral issues of unifying split communities, which the letter published on Wednesday aims to do.

“The Catholic community in China is called to be united, so as to overcome the divisions of the past that have caused, and continue to cause great suffering in the hearts of many pastors and faithful,” Francis wrote. “All Christians, none excluded, must now offer gestures of reconciliation and communion.”