The declaration came just a few hours after the agreement was reached between the Holy See and the communist regime. The country’s communist regime has long suppressed and persecuted the underground Catholic Church which has remained faithful to Rome.
The press release issued by the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics and the Council of Bishops of the Church of China — neither of which have been recognized by the Vatican — that “The Chinese Catholic Church ‘will continue to operate independently,’” according to a report by AsiaNews.
“We love the country and the Church, we will carry forward the principle of independence and the concept of the sinicization of religion while remaining on the path that leads to socialist society,” the Chinese Church stated.
“Independence” suggests independence from Rome’s authority, and “sinicization” refers to the process where foreign influences within China are made more compatible with Chinese culture. In reality, however, sinicization has become the government's attempt to co-opt Christianity.
“Sinicization,” according to China Aid’s 2014 Annual Report of Religious and Human Rights Persecution in China, “amounts to de-Christianizing the church in China and eradicating the universal nature of Christianity,” elevating “the interests of the Communist Party,” and “usurping Christian doctrine that ‘Christ is the head of Church.’”