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.

"After appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People's Republic of China have agreed to extend for another two years the Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of Bishops," read a statement from the Vatican press office.

The agreement, signed in September 2018, was previously extended in October 2020.

The accord is designed to bring closer together Catholics caught between the official state-backed church in China and an underground movement loyal to Rome and the pontiff as the church's supreme leader.

It also provides for greater cooperation between the Vatican and Beijing, while affording the pope the final say in the appointment of Chinese bishops.

Opponents of the deal, who have highlighted restrictions on religion in China, point to the fact that only six new bishops have been appointed since the deal was first struck.

Diplomatic sources say the renewal of the accord had been called into doubt by the arrest in early May in Hong Kong of 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of Asia's highest-ranking Catholic clerics.

Originally detained earlier this year under a national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong to quell dissent, he went on trial last month alongside five fellow democracy supporters over their role in running a fund to help defend people arrested in anti-government protests.

Zen was arrested for "colluding with foreign forces".

- 'Constructive dialogue' -

The Vatican said it intends to pursue what it termed "a respectful and constructive dialogue to further the mission of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people".

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said there had been careful study of the accord, "taking into account the particular characteristics of Chinese history and society and developments... of the Church in China".

Philippines' Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said "the intent of the Holy See is only to favour the choice of good Chinese Catholic bishops, who are worthy and suitable to serve their people.

"But favouring choices of worthy and suitable bishops is also in the interest of national governments and authorities, including Chinese ones."

A rupture of relations in the 1950s split China's some 10 million Catholic faithful between the two camps.

Under the 2018 accord Pope Francis agreed to recognise the nomination of seven Chinese government-nominated bishops without his accord.

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.

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