Catholic clergy to surrender passports under new laws in China
The rules bolster the already stringent control Chinese authorities excerpt over the practice of religion, placing the Vatican's deal under increased pressure.
(PerMariam) — China’s state church is enforcing the mandatory surrender of passports for all clergy and religious in the country, ensuring ever tighter control over the practice of religion in the Communist nation.
The regulations enacted in December by the state-approved bodies of the church in China – Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and its episcopal arm the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) – serve to grant yet further authoritarian control over Catholicism in China. Both of those bodies do not recognize the authority of the Holy See.
Under the rules, clergy and religious must surrender their passports and travel documents – including those for Hong Kong and Macao, and travel permits for Taiwan – to the Chinese officials, who will store all such documents.
Different storage measures for the identity documents will be in place for various ranks of clergy, but crucially the end result will be the same – namely that the Chinese authorities will hold the passports.
Any individual wishing to travel abroad for an “official overseas assignment” must submit a request for the passport and include a document approving the request. Travel can only be arranged after the passport is released to them.
For those looking to travel for private reasons, even more detail is required. The regulations – obtained first by The Epoch Times some weeks ago – state:
a written application must be submitted to the passport custodian through the employing unit (diocese, institution, or activity venue) 30 days in advance, detailing the itinerary, purpose, duration of stay, and list of participants. Only after approval by the competent authority and completion of a written commitment may the passport be collected and processed, along with visas and endorsements.
Individuals who have submitted their detailed travel plan must stick to it precisely else they risk further penalties. These penalties are characteristically referred to as “counseling or suspension of travel privileges for themselves and their affiliated unit (organization, institution, or activity venue), depending on the severity of the violation.”
Following their return to China, clergy and religious must hand over the passport to the authorities within 7 days, while some are also required to “complete required report forms and follow-up questionnaires, and confirm their return to China.”
A separate, but related, statement issued last week by the CCPA gave further evidence of the state-control of religion in China. “Religious activities carried out by the religious community should comply with relevant provisions of laws and regulations,” the BCCCC wrote.
The regulations imposed by the authorities include such elements as religious services being held only in approved venues – in order to readily control ceremonies and shut down those deemed to be illicit. The bishops defended such measures as being out of consideration of public health, citing “public security, fire protection, health and epidemic prevention.”
Only clergy registered officially with the authorities, and acting on behalf of officially registered bodies, can lead religious ceremonies.
These developments are no surprise to those following the state of the church in China.
Famously, the authorities practiced similar measures with Cardinal Joseph Zen during his brief visits to Rome in recent years in 2018 when Pope Francis refused him an audience, in 2023 for the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI, and in 2025 for the papal conclave.
China has long practiced a process of “Sinicization” with regard to religions present in the nation, and experts warn that Sinicization involves having “all religious communities be led by the [Communist] Party, controlled by the Party, and support the Party.”
Legislation enacted in May 2025 by the CCP also highlighted this aspect, with stipulations for all creeds to promote the communist ideologies found in China. Foreigners were banned from using religion “to damage China’s national interests, social public interests, and citizens’ legitimate rights and interests, and must not violate China’s public order and customs” – language which is highly weaponized in the communist nation.
Stringent restrictions were placed on foreign clergy, hampering them from establishing places of worship and ensuring that CCP officials determine the legitimacy of any requests to worship, made by foreign clergy.
Scrutiny over China’s increasingly draconian control of religious belief and practice has accentuated since the 2018 signing of the controversial deal between China and the Holy See. The Sino-Vatican deal is now renewed until 2028, despite its designation as a provisional arrangement.
Pope Leo XIV has so far not expressed any clear opinions on the deal, but in recent months has moved to approve episcopal selections made by the Chinese authorities.
The deal, though highly secret, is believed to hand power over selection of bishops to Beijing, while in theory granting the Pope a veto – though this is something which appears to have been rarely practiced. China has without a doubt held the rent of power throughout the past seven and a half years of the deal.
In an early address in Leo’s pontificate he prayed for China’s Catholics to be in “communion with the universal Church” in direct contradiction to the “Sinicization” aims of communist China. This comment gave hope to some China experts that Leo might not be as subservient to China as the Holy See was in the last pontificate. However, others remained as yet unconvinced that Leo was signaling any China policy.
“Will Pope Leo prioritize the secret Vatican-China Agreement on bishop appointments, even though the Chinese authorities have repeatedly violated it? Will he avoid directly mentioning the persecution of the underground Church, which Benedict’s prayer initiative implicitly supported? It’s too early to tell,” Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, previously told this correspondent at the time.
Human Rights Watch and China Aid both implored Pope Leo to address or even revoke the Sino-Vatican deal, but so far no such sign appears to be on the cards.
But in the wake of the 20-year jail term handed down on Monday to Catholic journalist Jimmy Lai, there has been renewed outrage over the Holy See’s apparent inaction in the face of the continued control exerted by Beijing against persecuted Catholics. The deal, locals have attested, has only made things worse.
Lord, have mercy....