Peter Thiel in Aspen: The pope is 'working for the Chinese Communists'
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel claimed at the Aspen Ideas Festival that Pope Francis is "working for the Chinese Communists," sparking controversy over the pope's diplomatic engagement with China regarding the appointment of bishops and broader Vatican-China relations.
Background
- **Peter Thiel** (billionaire, PayPal co-founder, early Facebook investor, Trump supporter) is a prominent right-wing tech mogul known for contrarian, often inflammatory political commentary.
- **The Aspen** (Aspen Ideas Festival) is an elite annual summer gathering in Colorado where politicians, CEOs, and intellectuals give speeches and panel talks.
- **The quote** refers to Pope Francis's 2018 China-Vatican deal on bishop appointments — a compromise that gave Beijing more say in selecting Catholic bishops in China. Thiel's framing ("working for the Chinese Communists") is far more extreme than mainstream criticism of the deal.
- This fits a broader pattern: Thiel has long argued that "the woke left" and global institutions (including the Catholic Church) are unwittingly aligning with authoritarian regimes, particularly China. He made similar arguments about universities and the CIA in previous speeches.
- The remark immediately sparked backlash from Catholic groups and China policy experts, but also reflects a growing theme in US right-wing discourse: that "globalism" via the Vatican is a front for Chinese Communist Party expansion.