China’s state-run paper praises Pope Francis’ ‘wisdom’ in making concessions on bishop appointments

A newspaper controlled by the Chinese government has praised Pope Francis for making “concessions” to the Communist regime that have effectively resulted in the Vatican legitimizing excommunicated bishops loyal to the regime while forcing legitimate bishops of the underground Church into retirement.

The Global Times told its readers in a February 5 editorial titled China-Vatican relations take clearer shape that the Roman pontiff had made “substantive concessions to China on bishop appointments.”