Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association

CPCA, Patriotic Catholic Church, 中國天主教愛國會). Part of the red market, it was established in 1957 by Catholics loyal to the CCP as a government-controlled Catholic Church separated from the Vatican, which promptly excommunicated its leaders and declared it schismatic. After the Vatican-China Deal of 2018, the Vatican started considering the CPCA and the Underground Catholic Church as one and the same Chinese Catholic Church. The Vatican Guidelines of 2019 allow Catholics Bishops and priests to join the CPCA, if necessary by expressing orally or in writing reservations about the wording of the declarations they may nonetheless sign when joining. However, the same guidelines call for “respect” for those Catholic conscientious objectors who would refuse to join the CPCA.