Vatican, China sign landmark accord on appointing bishops

The provisional agreement, signed in Beijing by deputy foreign ministers from both sides, was announced as Pope Francis visited Lithuania on a four-day trip to the Baltic countries. It gives the Holy See a decisive role in the appointment of all bishops in a country whose around 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association. The Vatican said the accord, a breakthrough after years of negotiations, was "not political but pastoral." A Holy See statement did not mention Taiwan, which the Vatican recognizes diplomatically and which China sees as a renegade province.

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