Up From the Underground: "Despite Official Scrutiny, China's Catholics Have Made Gains"
All but nine of the 70 bishops in the government's official church have secretly declared their loyalty to Rome and are now recognized by the Vatican, according to Ren Yanli, China's leading scholar of the church. And almost all of the new bishops approved by the government in the past five years were secretly named in advance by John Paul, said one of the bishops, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The government knows we only ask them to approve a bishop after the pope has signed off first," he said. "They aren't happy about it, but they don't have a choice. They know the people won't accept a bishop that hasn't been named by the pope." In effect, Ren said, "the government has lost control of the patriotic church."