Is the Underground Church in China in Schism? Are It's Newly Consecrated Bishops Excommunicated?

In September, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), the official church in China, ordained its 18th bishop under the secret Sino-Vatican agreement signed in 2018 and renewed several times including for four more years in 2024. Pope Leo approved the move. 

At the same time, Chinese expert Anthony Clark revealed a contact from an underground Chinese prelate that the underground church has ordained ten new bishops. The Catholic Herald's Michael Haynes reported on it last month:

Speaking to Catholic World Report, an Underground bishop spoke of a “state of emergency” and the fear that “the integrity of the Catholic faith will suffer”. Secret episcopal consecrations thus “assure the survival of China’s Church”.
This revelation highlights the fact that for the Underground Church, the Sino-Vatican deal has done nothing more than they feared, and warned, it would do from the very outset – namely, give the stamp of Vatican approval to the state-church and undermine the faith. 

With bishops being consecrated secretly for the Underground, the Holy See’s deal appears completely ineffective and self-defeating. Far from achieving its publicised aim of unifying the Church in China in safety, the deal has directly led to increased persecution and also proven incapable of unifying the Church....

The entire scenario forces the Vatican into an untenable position regarding the deal. If the Holy See admits it approved the secret consecrations then it admits that the deal is not working. If the Holy See attests it was unaware of the consecrations, then it has to realise that local Catholics do not trust the Vatican to protect them or the faith.

So the question is, did the underground church have a papal mandate for the consecration of the bishops? If not, are they excommunicated and in schism? Is the new face of Catholicism in China the Communist party?

Phil Lawler writing at Catholic Culture in late August compared the situation to that of the SSPX whose episcopal consecrations he's previously condemned:

Nevertheless, the canonical crimes attributed to the SSPX are ordaining bishops without a papal mandate and schism. If the “underground” prelates have been ordained without Rome’s approval, they and the bishops who ordained them are subject to automatic excommunication under the clear terms of the Code of Canon Law. If they are setting up an independent hierarchical structure, separate from one recognized by the Vatican, they are fulfilling the ordinary definition of schism. 

 What a head-shaker? Can things get any crazier? 

Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, has been a relentless critic of the Sino-Vatican accord which has done so much damage to faithful Chinese Catholics. According to Cardinal Zen, Vatican silence on human rights abuses has hindered evangelization in the country. Since the signing of the accord religious oppression has increased and violations of the accord by the Communist party are reportedly frequent, although who can tell since it's secret?

The situation is sometimes bizarre. In 2024, Yibin Catholic Diocese of the Shian Province organized a "Red Tour of Gratitude" to thank the Communist Party and honor its revolutionary "martyrs." Is that Catholic? Was there any response from Rome? Apparently not. What would Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a vocal enemy of Communism think about it? 

Pope Leo, according to EWTN, has stated he will continue the current Sino-Vatican policy for now. The Vatican, it seems, is deaf to the cries of the flock who simply want to keep the faith. Let us all pray for the underground church in China and for the persecuted church everywhere.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.

Our Lady, help of Christians, pray for us.

St. Joseph, patron of the universal church, pray for us.