The Vatican in Transition: China, Religion, and the Legacy of Pope Francis
Release Date: 12/15/2025
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The US-China Podcast
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The US-China Podcast
Read China & the Hill on China & the Hill is a weekly covering Washington DC’s China-focused debates, actions, and reactions. Readers will receive a curated digest of each week's most pressing U.S.-China news and its impact on businesses and policy, and can listen to the top stories in podcast form on the .
info_outlineThe death of Pope Francis came at a delicate moment in the Vatican’s relationship with China. Since 2018, the Holy See has pursued a cautious and often controversial diplomatic engagement with Beijing to maintain the Church’s relevance in China while navigating the Chinese Communist Party’s strict control over religion.
This approach has unfolded against a backdrop of repression of underground clergy and growing pressure from Beijing for the Vatican to sever ties with Taiwan. For observers, this period offers insight into how a global religious institution operates within a system in which space for religion and civil society is tightly constrained. With the new pope’s first hundred days behind him, long-standing questions about religious freedom, geopolitical recognition, and the boundaries of engagement remain central, and may take on new dimensions under his leadership.
In a conversation recorded on August 17, Ian Johnson, Francesco Sisci, and Karrie Koessel discuss the key issues currently shaping China–Vatican relations and how they may evolve under the new pope.