Vatican and China renew secret deal

The Vatican said Saturday it had renewed a secretive 2018 deal with Beijing allowing China to choose bishops on the mainland and then have Rome approve them. It said the deal had, as widely expected, been renewed for two years. Believers in China have continued, however, to accuse Beijing of religious repression which they say has continued unabated since the accord with the regime of President Xi Jinping ramping up state surveillance while some churches have been destroyed and religious creches closed in recent years.