The Vatican and China have signed a deeply controversial agreement on the appointment of bishops, ending the cold war that has frozen ties since 1950.  That deep freeze led to schisms between the official and underground churches, with some clergy persecuted for decades and the church refusing to recognise Beijing's handpicked bishops.  But the new agreement has divided the faithful yet again, with some fearing Catholicism is facing calamity as President Xi Jinping tightens control over religion.  To explore what’s behind this sudden rapprochement and what it could mean for China’s 12 million Catholics, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Jeremy Clarke, a former Catholic priest who has researched China's historical relations with the Holy See.

Image: Front view of Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, c/- Fabio Fistarol on Unsplash.

The Vatican and China have signed a deeply controversial agreement on the appointment of bishops, ending the cold war that has frozen ties since 1950.  That deep freeze led to schisms between the official and underground churches, with some clergy persecuted for decades and the church refusing to recognise Beijing's handpicked bishops.  But the new agreement has divided the faithful yet again, with some fearing Catholicism is facing calamity as President Xi Jinping tightens control over religion.  To explore what’s behind this sudden rapprochement and what it could mean for China’s 12 million Catholics, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Jeremy Clarke, a former Catholic priest who has researched China's historical relations with the Holy See.
Image: Front view of Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, c/- <a href="https://unsplash.com/@fabiofistarol">Fabio Fistarol </a>on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/white-concrete-building-with-flags-on-top-during-daytime-61rBB5NXuUw">Unsplash.</a>

The Little Red Podcast: interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News & Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/

The Little Red Podcast: interviews and chat celeb…

The Little Red Podcast

Awardwinning interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News & Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards and we're funded by the Australian National University's Centre on China in the World. Find us on your favourite platforms: we're on Stitcher, Spotify and even Podbean. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/. Our editor is the Saturday Paper's Andy Hazel (@AndyRickie), background research is by the Asia Society's Julia Bergin (@juliabergin1) and Xu Chong (@ChongXuCheng), our stirring theme tune was composed by Susie Wilkins (@susiewilkins) and our iconic art is courtesy of Seb Danta (@SebDanta).

Awardwinning interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News &amp; Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards and we're funded by the Australian National University's Centre on China in the World. Find us on your favourite platforms: we're on Stitcher, Spotify and even Podbean. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/. Our editor is the Saturday Paper's Andy Hazel (@AndyRickie), background research is by the Asia Society's Julia Bergin (@juliabergin1) and Xu Chong (@ChongXuCheng), our stirring theme tune was composed by Susie Wilkins (@susiewilkins) and our iconic art is courtesy of Seb Danta (@SebDanta).

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