The election of Pope Leo XIV in May — the first modern pope known to have ever stepped foot in China — and his initial comments acknowledging the “trials” Chinese Christians face under communism inspire “cautious hope” in his Beijing policy, the president of International Christian Concern (ICC), Jeff King told Breitbart News.
In remarks to Breitbart News on Monday, King acknowledged reports following the Vatican’s Conclave to replace the late Pope Francis that suggested the latter’s conciliatory policies towards the Chinese Communist Party may have been the undoing of his right-hand man on the project, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, advising “measured skepticism.” King observed that Pope Francis’s time as Archbishop of Rome was “incredibly divisive,” however, particularly on the issue of negotiating with Beijing, and this could have informed the choice of the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
“For Chinese Christians, particularly the persecuted faithful, Pope Leo XIV’s election offers cautious hope,” King explained. “The flawed Vatican-China agreement remains in effect, as evidenced by cases like Catholic prisoner Jimmy Lai being denied sacraments.”
Jimmy Lai, the publisher of the shutdown anti-communist newspaper Apple Daily, was imprisoned following the 2019 Hong Kong protests and found guilty of “sedition” in a sham trial for his support and participation in the peaceful movement. A devout Catholic, Lai has refused to abandon his position against the Communist Party or flee Hong Kong to avoid prison.
“However, the new pope’s expressed solidarity with Chinese Catholics, as noted by Cardinal Stephen Chow, suggests he may pursue a more balanced approach,” King continued, “maintaining dialogue while more forcefully advocating for religious freedom.”
ICC is a humanitarian organization offering aid and spreading awareness of the persecution of Christians across the globe. The organization ranks China as among the world’s most dangerous countries to practice Christianity in the 2025 edition of its Global Persecution Index, noting that the totalitarian communist regime effectively outlaws the legitimate following of the teachings of Jesus Christ and enforces communist ideology through its few “legal” churches. The Chinese Communist Party allows the legal practice of only five religions: Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, communist-controlled Catholicism, and the “Three-Self Patriotic Church,” an analog to Protestant Christianity.
“Though the government does allow a protestant and a catholic church to exist, both are state-run and operate as puppets of the government and are forced to parrot CCP-dictated sermons and extol Xi Jinping Thought,” ICC explained in its index. “Any religious institutions that operate outside of these state-run churches face severe persecution.”
The Chinese “Catholic Church” is run by the Communist Party and is not in alignment with the Vatican. It heretically appoints its own “bishops” who promote communist ideology. In an attempt to repair the true Church’s relationship with Chinese Catholics, Pope Francis brokered an agreement in 2018 to recognize Communist Party “bishops,” rupturing Apostolic succession and legitimizing the Communist Party as an ordaining party. Some of those “clergy” members now accepted by the Vatican had been excommunicated for challenging the rules of the sacrament of ordination.
There is no evidence that the Vatican-China agreement improved the repressive situation lived by Christians in China. On the contrary, the imprisoning and persecution of Christians seeking to pray in private, away from the Communist Party’s influence, appeared to increase. The Chinese government dramatically increased the presence of surveillance technology in its churches, mosques, and other houses of worship and enacted a campaign to replace crosses and other Christian images nationwide with photos of genocidal dictator Xi Jinping. It is illegal for children to attend any religious services in China and adults who seek to do so must register on a government surveillance application.
Following the passage of Pope Francis, the Chinese government offered only a muted statement of condolence and refused to send a representative to his funeral.
The China agreement was brokered largely under the auspices of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis’s top diplomat — who initially emerged as a favorite to succeed him in the pontificate.
The Conclave — the meeting of bishops from around the world to choose a successor after a pope’s death — ultimately chose Cardinal Robert Prevost, the current Pope Leo XIV, a “dark horse” candidate. Conclaves take place under extreme secrecy, and the clergy rarely disclose the inner workings of negotiations to get to a plurality vote for any one candidate. Anonymously sourced reports following the latest Conclave, however, suggested that Parolin’s papal aspirations were derailed at least in part by his prominent role in the China deal. The Spanish newspaper El País, for example, reported that “the conservative sector couldn’t forgive him for being responsible for the controversial agreement between the Holy See and China.”
“Parolin was long the frontrunner, but concerns arose regarding his health and his role in the Vatican’s China policy,” the Irish Post similarly claimed. Even prior to the election of a new pope, the Financial Times suggested that Bishop Parolin’s proximity to the China deal could hurt his chances of succeeding Pope Francis.
Cardinal Parolin mentioned no such details in his own reflections on the Conclave, of course, and retains a prominent position in Vatican City. Nonetheless, many observers have suggested that Parolin not emerging as pope could, in part, be a reflection of bishops’ attitudes towards China.
Reports linking the election of Pope Leo XIV to China policy “deserve a measure of skepticism,” King advised, “given the inherently secretive nature of Vatican politics.” The general condition that led to the decision was the “incredibly divisive” tenure of Pope Francis, in part fueled by his approach to China, he added.
“His positions on issues like same-sex blessings and restrictions on the Latin Mass created deep divisions within the church, with many Catholics calling his positions heretical,” King noted. “Regardless, Francis appointed 108 of the 133 voting cardinals, suggesting his theological vision carried substantial weight in the conclave.”
“If these anonymous reports hold merit, Cardinal Parolin’s association with the China deal may have indeed damaged his papal prospects, clearing the path for Cardinal Robert Prevost’s election as Pope Leo XIV,” King continued. “The new pope’s swift election after just four ballots suggests the cardinals sought continuity with Francis’s pastoral emphasis on mercy and outreach, but without his divisive baggage.”
As for Pope Leo, he had effectively no history of public remarks on China prior to being elected pope, despite his unique status of having visited the country in the past. Details of that visit are not publicly known. He was quick to mention China shortly after his election to lead the Church, however. In late May, Pope Leo recognized the “Day of Prayer for the Church in China,” a recently established Catholic tradition, and publicly acknowledged that Chinese Christians face severe challenges at home.
“May the intercession of Mary Most Holy obtain for them, and for us, the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials, so that we may always promote peace and harmony,” the pope said.
Pope Leo also used his first decrees on Venerables, a recognition on the path to sainthood, to honor Spanish Monsignor Alejandro Labaca Ugarte, who was martyred in the Ecuadorian Amazon in 1987, but had previously been expelled from communist China for his missionary work.
“Leo’s prayers are a bold pastoral gesture, and his recognition of Labaca could be a subtle rebuke of Beijing’s historical and ongoing suppression,” King told Breitbart News. “Leo’s actions suggest he may prioritize the persecuted faithful, potentially rethinking the 2018 deal with the CCP… In the end, though, it’s too soon to celebrate a shift. The Vatican-China deal remains in place, and Leo’s prayers align with the diplomatic tone of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, suggesting continuity rather than confrontation.”
King urged the new papacy to “renounce the secretive 2018 deal” and reorient the focus of the Church on tangible aid for persecuted Chinese Christians (financial, legal, and humanitarian support).” He also urged Christians around the world to pray for the Catholic Church.
“As Christians, we must pray that Pope Leo XIV will demonstrate both wisdom and courage in confronting the CCP’s systematic campaign to slowly strangle the church,” he said. “The underground church’s survival depends on Vatican leadership that refuses to compromise fundamental religious freedom and human dignity for diplomatic convenience.”
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