Dossier Published By Vatican Publishing House Lists All Bishops in China, Licit and Illicit

L’Espresso, Sandro Magister: Francis is the first pope to have flown over China. But whether he will set foot there remains to be seen. In August Libreria Editrice Vaticana has made public a dossier that is a brutal cold shower for those who continue to say that an accord between the Holy See and Beijing is imminent.

The dossier, edited by Gianni Cardinale, an expert on Vatican geopolitics and an eminent writer for “Avvenire” and “Limes,” does not comment on but documents what until now was known only in bits and pieces.

It furnishes for the first time the names of the bishops of each Chinese diocese, official and underground, legitimate and illicit. Full report is here.