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The Catholic Church (Chinese: 天主教; pinyin: Tiānzhǔ jiào; lit. 'Religion of the Lord of Heaven', after the Chinese term for the Christian God) first appeared in China upon the arrival of John of Montecorvino in China proper during the Yuan dynasty; he was the first Catholic missionary in the country, and would become the first bishop of Khanbaliq (1271–1368).[1]
After the 1949 takeover by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Catholic and Protestant missionaries were expelled from the country. In 1957, the communist government established the Catholic Patriotic Association in Beijing,[2] which rejects the authority of the Holy See and appoints its own preferential bishops. Since September 2018, however, an agreement was reached, giving the Pope the power to veto any bishop which the Chinese government recommends.[3][4] However, the Church has claimed this agreement was breached in November 2022 and July 2023 when two bishops were installed without prior approval or consultation by the Vatican.[5]