The sentencing of Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison is a moral emergency for the Catholic Church and the West more broadly. This month, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled court in Hong Kong condemned the 78-year-old devout Catholic to what amounts to a life sentence. His crime was exercising the very freedoms of speech, press, and conscience that the Church has long defended as reflections of human dignity. Pope Leo XIV now faces a defining moment of his papacy: Will he continue the failed policy of appeasement toward the CCP that has emboldened this persecution, or will he stand firmly as a defender of the faithful?
Jimmy Lai’s story is one of remarkable conversion and courage. Born into poverty in mainland China, he fled to Hong Kong as a boy and built a business empire. As Beijing tightened its grip on Hong Kong over the last decade, Lai used his platform to champion democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. He supported the 2014 Umbrella Movement and 2019 protests, becoming one of the CCP’s most vocal critics. After being arrested in 2020 under the draconian National Security Law, he endured years of trials on charges ranging from fraud to “colluding with foreign forces,” a catch-all for speech that displeases Beijing. The 20-year sentence seals his fate.
Yet Lai is not merely a political prisoner. His detention and treatment constitute a direct challenge to religious freedom. Baptized into the Catholic Church in 1997 by Cardinal Joseph Zen, then coadjutor bishop of Hong Kong, Lai has described his faith as the foundation of his fight for freedom. In prison, he reads the Gospel, prays daily, and draws images of the Crucifixion and the Blessed Mother. His daughter Claire has said the ordeal has only deepened his devotion; he views his cell as a “holy sanctuary” where grace abounds. Beijing has repeatedly denied him access to the Eucharist and Mass. This is not incidental. The CCP targets Lai precisely because his Catholic witness unites faith with the pursuit of justice, a direct challenge to Beijing’s demand for total ideological control.
Lai’s imprisonment is no isolated injustice. It forms part of Xi Jinping’s relentless crackdown on religious freedom. Under the banner of “Sinicization,” the CCP seeks to subordinate every faith to party doctrine. In 2025 and early 2026, authorities launched sweeping raids on underground Protestant churches. Leaders of the Early Rain Covenant Church and Zion Church were detained in nighttime operations. Pastors face charges for “illegal” online sermons or unregistered gatherings. Catholic communities suffer similar restrictions. Underground bishops have been disappeared, forced into “re-education,” or pressured to join the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. New regulations treat clergy like quasi-cadres under surveillance. Churches are stormed, assets seized, and believers harassed. The message Beijing is sending is clear: In Xi’s China, there is no God but the Party.
This repression has intensified precisely because the Vatican’s policy of engagement has signaled weakness. In 2018, under Pope Francis, the Holy See signed a secret agreement with the CCP on the appointment of bishops. The deal, whose full text remains undisclosed, granted Beijing significant influence over bishop appointments for China’s Catholics in exchange for a supposed path to “unity.” It has been renewed repeatedly, most recently extended for another four years. Far from protecting the Church, the accord has legitimized the regime’s control over appointments, sidelined loyal underground bishops, and left faithful Catholics feeling abandoned. Cardinal Zen, who spent years warning against the deal, called it a “surrender.” The policy of quiet diplomacy and compromise has not moderated Beijing’s behavior; it has emboldened it.
Jimmy Lai’s sentencing is the clearest proof yet that appeasement does not buy safety; it invites escalation. When the Vatican refuses to name the persecution of Christians by name, renews agreements without demanding concrete improvements, and prioritizes diplomatic access over prophetic witness, the CCP interprets silence as permission. Lai’s 20-year term is the fruit of that miscalculation. Every day he spends in isolation is a day the universal Church fails to live up to its own teaching on the dignity of the human person and the primacy of conscience.
Pope Leo has the opportunity, and the duty, to break this cycle. He should immediately and publicly call for the release of those imprisoned on religious-freedom grounds. He should demand unrestricted access to the sacraments for Lai and for all imprisoned believers in China and Hong Kong. Most importantly, he should declare that the 2018 agreement, in light of unrelenting persecution, no longer serves the good of the Church and must be terminated. Continuing to negotiate with a regime that jails a faithful Catholic for decades while denying him the Eucharist is not prudence; it is complicity.
Pope Leo should go even further. He should launch a global advocacy campaign, mobilizing the Church, governments, and international institutions, to expose and condemn China’s systematic assault on religious liberty. Vatican diplomacy must shift from backroom deals to public moral clarity. Wielding the authority of the Church, Pope Leo should speak up for China’s persecuted faithful and end the Vatican’s dangerous experiment in the appeasement of tyranny.
