With a one-minute look at culture from a Christian worldview, I'm John Stone Street with the Point.

The Vatican has renewed its 2018 arrangement with Beijing. Critics continue to warn that it's

a recipe for disaster. While the agreement ended China's official ban on Catholicism, it put

Beijing in the process of appointing bishops. The new state-nominated bishops are overwhelmingly

in favor of Xi Jinping, who has just

extended his rule for a third term. According to the Wall Street Journal editorial board,

the agreement's main outcome, quote, has been to mute Vatican criticism of human rights abuses

from the genocide of Muslim Uyghurs to the prosecution of Cardinal Zen in Hong Kong. Cardinal

Zen is a 90-year-old bishop

on trial for his pro-democracy efforts. He originally called the agreement an incredible

betrayal. However, Pope Francis has hedged on whether China should be considered anti-democratic,

adding that, quote, we must respect the Chinese mentality. Well, in this case, the Cardinal is seeing things much more clearly than the Pope.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.