Faith Betrayed: The Vatican’s Silence on China and the Fate of Jimmy Lai

Jimmy Lai, the Catholic Hong Kong media tycoon and outspoken critic of Beijing, has just been convicted in what many observers are calling a “show trial” under China’s sweeping National Security Law. The trial of the 78-year-old Lai, which was conducted without a jury and overseen by three government‑appointed judges, ended with guilty verdicts on charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition—offenses that could keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life.

In their written judgment, the court concluded Lai was the “mastermind of the conspiracies” alleged by prosecutors and ruled that his “only intent was to seek the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party.” Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Rights groups, Western governments, and press freedom advocates have condemned the proceedings as politically motivated, pointing to Lai’s five years in custody, much of it in solitary confinement, and the lack of credible evidence presented against him. Lai’s son, Sebastien, told reporters that the family was “not surprised” at the ruling: “ This is a perfect example of how the national security law has been molded and weaponized against someone who essentially said stuff that they didn’t like.” Lai’s daughter, Claire, added that “this verdict proves that the authorities still fear our father, even in his weakened state, for what he represents.” She continued, “We stand by his innocence and condemn this miscarriage of justice.”

The conviction marks not only a personal tragedy for Lai, who built the pro‑democracy newspaper Apple Daily into a symbol of resistance, but also a broader warning about the collapse of judicial independence and free expression in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the National Security Law in 2020.

The conviction also underscores the Vatican’s failure to exercise meaningful leadership in defending justice—serving as a stark reminder of the Catholic Church’s compromised role, with the Vatican retreating instead of defending Jimmy Lai, despite his status as a devout Catholic and symbol of resistance to authoritarianism. Bill McGurn of The Wall Street Journal has consistently defended Jimmy Lai, portraying him as a symbol of courage and press freedom in Hong Kong. He has described Lai’s arrest as a “badge of honor” and condemned Beijing’s use of the National Security Law as a tool to silence dissent. 

McGurn has emphasized that Lai’s case is deeply personal to him—he served as Lai’s godfather when he converted to Catholicism several years ago and has long considered him a close friend. He noted that Lai’s family is “very entwined” with his own, making the injustice of the arrest even more poignant. McGurn has been very critical of the late Pope Francis’ Vatican response to the Lai injustice—calling it a “disaster.” 

In a speech to a gathering of Catholic leaders at the Napa Institute in California, just weeks before his arrest and incarceration, Lai questioned why the Vatican would agree to a “secret agreement” with the Communist Party. Jimmy Lai asked the Napa gathering: “Is there some corruption in the Vatican to cause them to sign such an agreement?”

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League reported that 

Benjamin Rogers, co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, accused Pope Francis of turning a blind eye to what is going on in China. He maintains that the leader of China, Xi Jinping, “wants the Catholic Church to kowtow to the Marxist-Leninist Chinese Communist Party regime.” 

Still, faithful Catholics were encouraged when Pope Leo XIV met with Jimmy Lai’s wife, Teresa, and daughter, Claire, in October 2025. But it may simply be too little too late to save Jimmy Lai from his fate in the repressive Communist government. The current pontiff has kept the same Vatican-China “deal” on the appointment of bishops that are acceptable to the Communist Party. 

In September, Catholic News Agency reported that Pope Leo XIV suppressed two historic dioceses, Xiwanzi and Xuanhua—both erected in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and replaced them with the Diocese of Zhangjiakou. The See of the new diocese is based in the city of Zhangjiakou, where China’s state-controlled Catholic association set up its own diocese in 1980 using boundaries never recognized by the Holy See. According to Catholic News Agency, Pope Leo XIV appointed a new bishop to lead the new diocese “within the framework of the Holy See’s provisional agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops.”

Missing from the Vatican announcement was any mention of Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, 75, the longtime underground bishop of Xuanhua, the diocese Pope Leo XIV suppressed. Bishop Cui Tai has been subjected to repeated detention, house arrest, and forced labor over the past three decades, according to news reports.

On March 26, 2024, Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life hosted a presentation on the plight of Jimmy Lai. The purpose of the campus event was to highlight Lai’s fight for human rights, press freedom, and democracy in Hong Kong, and to raise awareness among students about the injustice of his ongoing imprisonment. At the event, Franciscan students viewed the documentary The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom, produced by the Acton Institute. Mark Simon—Jimmy Lai’s business associate for 23 years and former senior executive at Next Digital and current managing director of the Lai Trust—spoke at the event. Joseph Cella, formerly the U.S. ambassador to Fiji, also told students about the case and the response from the United States. 

While we cannot know what may be happening behind the scenes at the Vatican—or what negotiations may be occurring—the lack of a public response from the Vatican on this issue continues to concern all faithful Catholics. By sustaining its controversial and secretive agreement with Beijing on the suppression and appointment of bishops, the Vatican appears to have forfeited an opportunity to stand unequivocally with one of its most faithful sons against tyranny. 

Lai’s courage in the face of repression contrasts sharply with the Church’s silence, exposing a moral lapse that will echo far beyond Hong Kong. The Vatican may have its own reasons for this silence, but by appearing to elevate political expediency above prophetic conviction, it imperils both Jimmy Lai’s cause and its own standing as a voice for truth and justice in a world that desperately needs both.