Special to WorldTribune.com

Atheist China has had no official relations with the Vatican since 1951, but that may soon change.

While the paths of Pope Francis and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not cross when both men recently visited the United States, both the Vatican and Chinese officials have signaled a warming of relations.

Francis told reporters on Sept. 28 that he is interested in becoming the first pope to visit mainland China. “I love the Chinese people,” he said.

China’s foreign ministry responded on Sept. 29 by saying Beijing is “sincere about improving relations with the Vatican,” according to an article in the state-sanctioned Global Times which also appeared on the website of the People’s Daily, the leading mouthpiece of the atheist Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Experts say China may look to Francis to help calm religious and social instability.

“Improving relations would also benefit both sides,” Wang Meixiu, a researcher at the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the Global Times article. “Underground churches and the lack of authority of some bishops have become a problem which can impact the stability of Chinese society. We cannot solve those problems without the Vatican’s involvement.”

The “problems” Wang was alluding to were sparked by the CCP’s meddling with the two leading factions of China’s estimated 12 million Catholics.

The state-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which most of the country’s Catholics belong to, does not recognize the Vatican as its head. The remaining Catholics in China are members of “underground” churches that do recognize the pope as their leader.

The meddling by China is seen in the appointment of bishops, on which the CCP insists on having the final say. One appointed bishop who did receive the pope’s approval, Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai, is now under house arrest for renouncing his membership in the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association during his ordination.

Another shot at Catholics came when officials in Zhejiang province instituted a program last year of removing crosses from church buildings, and even demolishing some churches entirely. Both Catholics and Protestants have protested the program which has seen 1,200 Christian crosses removed since February 2014 in the southeastern province where Xi used to serve as the top official.

The true scale of China’s underground Christian and religious activity is unknown as the controlled media, both foreign and domestic, have been forbidden to cover it.

  China’s new ally in controlling religious expression — Pope Francis?, Chinese Catholics, Vatican, WorldTribune.com, Xi Jinping