#China – A recent human rights report has explicitly indicated an escalation in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pressure and repression against Christians, specifically Catholics, a major Christian group in China. The report published through the Human Rights Watch (HRW) is titled “China: Pressure on Catholics Escalates,” and it was released on April 15, 2026.
In the report, the HRW stated that Chinese authorities “are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church while tightening surveillance and travel restrictions on all of China’s estimated 12 million Catholics.” This effort is framed as part of a broader, intensifying campaign of ideological control under President Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization of religion” policy launched in 2016 and ongoing for a decade. The report described the repression as “escalating” and noted, “A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms.”
The 2018 Provisional Agreement between the Vatican and China (renewed through 2028) has been used by authorities as a tool to force underground (unregistered) Catholic communities—those refusing CCP allegiance—into the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Tactics have included arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, torture, house arrests, church demolitions, and cross removals. Underground bishops and priests have been targeted, with some replaced by regime-approved ones; examples include detained or disappeared figures like Bishops Augustine Cui Tai, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, James Su Zhimin, and others.
The tightened control of Christians in China have included ideological “political trainings” (sometimes twice weekly), mandatory approval of teachings, surveillance (e.g., cameras in churches, pre-registration for services, bans on children attending or receiving religious education at home), and restrictions on materials/activities. In one case, a church in Henan was closed for allowing minors. In December 2025, “Provisional Regulations on the Standardized Management of Exit-and-Entry Travel Documents for Catholic Clergy” formalized state approval requirements for all clergy travel (even personal), further limiting independence.
The HRW report has fit a pattern of CCP repression against Christians, including Bible restrictions, bans on unauthorized apps, and violations of freedoms of religion, belief, expression, association, and movement. HRW noted similar tactics against Protestants and other groups, describing religious persecution in China as “longstanding but [having] become increasingly repressive under Xi.” The report highlighted how the Vatican agreement, intended to normalize bishop appointments, has instead given Beijing a “legal” pretext to dismantle underground structures, leaving many Catholics feeling betrayed and in “panic.”
Image: Church of the Savior – Beijing, China.
