THE Vatican and China said they had signed a “provisional agreement” over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.

The deal resolved one of the major sticking points in recent years, with the Vatican agreeing to accept seven bishops who were previously named by Beijing without the pope’s consent.

The development comes nearly seven decades after the Holy See and Beijing severed official relations.

Beijing’s long-held insistence that it must approve bishop appointments in China had clashed with absolute papal authority to pick bishops.

With the status of the seven bishops now reconciled, the Vatican said all bishops in China are now in communion with Rome - even though the Catholic community in China is still split between Catholics who belong to the official Chinese church and those in the underground church who remain loyal to the pope.

“Pope Francis hopes that, with these decisions, a new process may begin that will allow the wounds of the past to be overcome, leading to the full communion of all Chinese Catholics,” a Vatican statement said.

Some Chinese Catholics have opposed such a deal, notably Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who previously called it a sellout of Chinese Catholics who refused to join the state Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and who paid the price of remaining faithful to Rome during years of persecution.

Zen had yet to reply to an AP request for comment. But on his blog, the cardinal criticised the lack of specifics in the accord, including no mention of the status of several underground bishops named by the pope.

“What is the message this communique conveys to the faithful in China? ‘Trust us! Accept the agreement!,”’ he wrote.

That, he said, was tantamount to the Chinese government telling Catholics to “Obey us! We are in agreement with your pope!”’

The Vatican’s No. 2 official indicated that the pope and Chinese authorities would jointly approve new bishop appointments.

While the agreement could help pave the way for formal diplomatic ties and possibly an eventual papal trip to China, it was also sure to anger Catholics who vigorously advocated for the Vatican to maintain a hard line on caring for the 12 million faithful in China.

The accord was signed in Beijing during a meeting between China’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Wang Chao, and the Vatican undersecretary for state relations, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri.

In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said “China and the Vatican will continue to maintain communications and push forward the process of improving relations between the two sides.” Yet even as China professed the desire for better relations with the Holy See, the deal was signed against a backdrop of a Chinese crackdown on religions.

Under President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, faithful are seeing their freedoms shrink even as the country experiences a religious revival.

Islamic crescents and domes have been stripped from mosques and a campaign is underway to “re-educate” tens of thousands of Uighur Muslims.

Tibetan children have been moved from Buddhist temples to schools and banned from religious activities during summer holidays, state-run media have reported.

Over the last few months, local governments across China have shut down hundreds of private Christian “house churches.”