Human Rights Watch says China’s ban on minors in churches and crackdown on Catholics violates international human rights law.
Newsroom (17/04/2026 ) Human Rights Watch has issued a stark warning that China’s escalating restrictions on Catholic communities—including a ban on minors attending church—amount to violations of international human rights law, deepening concerns over religious freedom under President Xi Jinping’s leadership.
In a report titled China: Pressure on Catholics Escalates, the organization details how state control over religious life has tightened significantly over the past decade, particularly following the 2018 agreement between Beijing and the Holy See on episcopal appointments. While the agreement was framed as a step toward unity within the Catholic Church in China, Human Rights Watch argues it has instead been used to intensify pressure on so-called “underground” communities that have historically resisted state oversight.
Drawing on firsthand testimonies and expert analysis, the report portrays a climate of fear and coercion. One Catholic whose church was demolished described how authorities removed its cross and detained members, leaving them with “no other choice but to join the official church.” Another characterized the Vatican-China agreement as “an intelligent weapon to legally destroy underground churches,” noting how long-persecuted bishops have been replaced by state-approved clergy.
A particularly vivid account comes from a Chinese Catholic who fled the country in 2023. He described the aftermath of being forced into the state-sanctioned church system: “Our church was in a state of panic, and some priests were forced to leave the county. We felt the Chinese government became more heavy-handed after the agreement. We started praying like we were thieves.”
According to his testimony, public expressions of faith were systematically curtailed. Choir singing was banned, church windows were shuttered to conceal worship from public view, and Mass schedules were shifted to impractical hours to discourage attendance. “Children growing up now have no memory of church prayers or ceremonies,” he said, underscoring the long-term cultural impact of these policies.
The restriction on minors is among the most contentious aspects of China’s religious policy. Human Rights Watch notes that since revised Regulations on Religious Affairs were introduced in 2018, authorities have increasingly enforced rules prohibiting children from participating in religious activities. While such rules existed previously, enforcement has intensified in recent years.
A Chinese academic cited in the report observed that local governments once paid little attention to whether children attended church services. That has changed. By early 2026, enforcement had become strict enough that one Catholic in Shaanxi province said the policy is “aimed at cutting generational ties within the Catholic community.”
Cases cited in the report illustrate how these restrictions are applied in practice. In December, a church in Xuchang, Henan province, was shut down for allowing minors to enter and play musical instruments—an act deemed a violation of state regulations.
Further compounding concerns, a September 2025 internal document attributed to the Central United Front Leading Group calls for heightened surveillance of religious upbringing within families. It explicitly states that parents “must not organize … home-based religious education to instill religious ideas to their children” and instructs schools to encourage students to report such activities to authorities.
Human Rights Watch argues that these measures violate multiple international legal standards. In addition to breaching Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion, the organization says China is contravening provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights—both of which the country has signed. These treaties affirm that education systems should not interfere with the ability of individuals or groups to provide religious instruction, provided basic state standards are met.
Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the situation reflects a broader pattern of repression. “A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” he said.
Uluyol urged the Vatican to reconsider its approach, calling on Pope Leo XIV to “urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers.” He also called on Chinese authorities to cease targeting believers who practice their faith outside Communist Party structures.
At the heart of the report lies a fundamental tension between state control and religious autonomy. As Beijing continues to advance its policy of “sinicisation”—aligning religious practice with socialist values and party authority—Catholic communities that resist integration into state systems face mounting pressure, with children increasingly at the center of the struggle over faith, identity, and the future of religious life in China.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Asianews.it
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