The rise of China is Pope Leo’s pre-eminent challenge
The rise of China is the pre-eminent challenge for Vatican diplomacy.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia/Alamy
How he responds to the unilateral ‘election’ of two Chinese bishops in the days before his election will reveal how closely Pope Leo XIV intends to follow the diplomatic policies of his predecessor
China policy may have helped Leo get elected. Several cardinals, especially some from Asia, felt the man who had been widely tipped to succeed Francis, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, had been naive in his dealings with Beijing. Parolin had negotiated the provisional accord between the Vatican and China over the appointment of bishops, first signed in 2018 and renewed every two years after that (with a four-year extension signed last autumn).
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