Underground Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in China loyal to the Vatican and including those Catholics who refused to join the government-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Its bishops, priests, and laypersons were persecuted for decades, and the Underground Catholic Church existed precariously in the gray  market. The Vatican-China deal of 2018 calls for the gradual merger of the Underground Catholic Church and the Catholic Patriotic Association into one single organization, whose bishops will be selected jointly by the CCP and the Vatican and appointed by the Pope.