Vatican, China extend bishop agreement over US opposition

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican and China have extended a controversial accord on bishop nominations over strong opposition from the White House and conservative Catholics. The Holy See and Beijing government jointly announced a two-year extension to the 2018 agreement, which expired Thursday.  The Vatican defended the extension by saying the agreement was purely ecclesiastic and pastoral in nature, and not political. The agreement, which hasn’t ever been published, envisages a