The Vatican and China announced Saturday a deal to resolve the thorny issue of who gets to appoint bishops, a dispute that bedevilled their relations for decades.

AFP takes a look at four key points in the complex, centuries-old relationship between Beijing and the Holy See:

- Italian Jesuit -

In the west of Beijing lies the tomb of Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary famous for having found a way to gain the trust of Chinese authorities centuries ago.

Ricci, who lived from 1552 to 1610, has been held up several times by Pope Francis, also a Jesuit, as an exemplary evangelist.

Ricci's work in China is considered pioneering because he carried it out by adapting Christian traditions to the Chinese way of life. He first came to Macau in 1582 and was finally allowed to enter Beijing in 1601.

He studied the language and culture and gained a widespread reputation as a learned scholar -- even receiving an invitation to Emperor Wanli's imperial court.

Ricci adopted a Chinese name, Li Madou, and dressed in the style of a Chinese scholar.

At the time of his death, foreigners who died in China were supposed to be buried in Macau, but the emperor agreed to make an exception for him and he was buried in Beijing.

- Broken ties -

Centuries after Ricci's death, relations between the Vatican and China deteriorated with the arrival of the Communist regime in 1949.

China and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951 after Rome recognised the nationalist government in Taiwan.

The atmosphere worsened when in 1957 China set up its own Catholic Church, administered by the atheist Communist government.

Catholics and other religious groups were persecuted during the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, but they rebounded in the 1980s with the launch of economic reforms and policies aimed at "opening up" the country.

- Naming bishops -

The Communist government created the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association to administer the church in the world's most populous country in July 1957.

This led to the splitting of the country's Catholic flock between worshippers who follow government-appointed bishops and those who attend "underground" unofficial churches loyal to the Vatican.

Beijing insisted that it had the right to ordain its own bishops, defying the Holy See, which says ordinations can only go ahead with the pope's blessing.

Despite the divisions, the Vatican had recognised many government-appointed prelates in the recent past. But China's appointment of three bishops who were not approved by the pope soured relations in 2006.

The deal between the Vatican and Beijing aims to bring the country's roughly 12 million Catholics under one roof again in China by ending the dispute over who gets to name the bishops.

After the provisional agreement was signed in Beijing on Saturday, the Vatican said Pope Francis recognised seven bishops who had been ordained in China without the Holy See's approval.

"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," the Vatican said in a statement.

In return, Beijing is reportedly expected to recognise the pope as the head of the Catholic church.

- Religious crackdown -

The rapprochement has been criticised by some Catholics and rights activists who point out that it comes at a time when the government is tightening its grip on all religious groups.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the Chinese government has been "closing churches, burning Bibles and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith."

In central Henan province, AFP reporters saw signs outside churches saying children were not allowed to attend mass. A document showed that priests have been told to hand over detailed information about their flocks. And churches there have been demolished because they were considered "illegal" constructions.

Crosses have been removed from churches, printed religious materials and holy items confiscated, and church-run kindergartens closed.

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