Leo XIV on the Church in China: unity “is not uniformity but communion in diversity”

Leo XIV sent a video message on Thursday, 5 November, to participants in the international conference “The Face of the Universal Church in China: 100 Years Since the Consecration of the First Chinese Bishops”, organised by the Dicastery for Evangelization – Section for First Evangelization, together with the Pontifical Urbaniana University, where it is taking place. The text was published by the Holy See Press Office (Bulletin B0871, original in Italian).

One hundred years ago in St Peter's

The conference recalls the first Chinese Catholic bishops consecrated in modern times, who received episcopal ordination in St Peter's Basilica at the hands of Pope Pius XI on 28 October 1926, after travelling by ship from Shanghai. “Their consecration was an event of great significance, not only for the journey of the Catholic Church in China but also for the universal Church,” the Pope said.

Mission, not colonisation

Leo XIV pointed to Benedict XV's 1919 apostolic letter Maximum illud, which affirmed that the Church's missionary work must not be confused with colonisation or the export of ideas or cultural models. He recalled the 1924 Council of Shanghai and the call, backed by the apostolic delegate Celso Costantini, to entrust local communities to native Chinese priests and bishops — a process needed “to remain faithful to the very nature of the Church, whose unity is not uniformity but communion in diversity.”

Unity with the Bishop of Rome

The six bishops, he said, crossed the world to bear witness to the communion that blossoms from the faith of the Apostles, whose “indispensable sign” is the unity of each bishop with the Bishop of Rome (our translation). He quoted Benedict XVI's 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics — the Church in China has never been deprived of the “ministry of legitimate shepherds who have preserved the apostolic succession intact” — and Pope Francis (video message, 21 May 2024) on Chinese Catholics walking in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

Closing prayer

“Today, in a world torn apart by conflicts and overwhelmed by wars,” the Pope said, “the Bride of Christ continues that same mission, praying that, in the face of every threat, the Lord may preserve the treasure of ecclesial communion, a fruitful source of goodness and peace for all.”

Sources: official text of the video message, Holy See Press Office, Bulletin B0871 (https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/11/05/0871/01619.html); English quotations from Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-11/pope-leo-xiv-conference-church-china-unity-diversity.html). Photo: Vatican Media.