Pope Clement XI's successor, Pope Innocent XIII, had served as Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal from 1697 to 1710, at the court of John and his father King Peter II. However, Innocent XIII's time in Portugal is cited to have been the source of his dislike of the Society of Jesus, owing to the immense power that the Jesuits held at the Portuguese court and the concessions they held across the Portuguese Empire at the time. An ongoing issue of importance to the Portugal was the long-standing Chinese Rites controversy, which largely concerned the methods used in Asia by the Jesuits, which were largely under patronage of the Portuguese. Innocent XIII's decision to prohibit the Jesuits from continuing their missions in China caused great upset at the Portuguese court. Though Innocent XIII's successor, Pope Benedict XIII, was the only Pope to descend from Portuguese royalty (descending from King Dinis I of Portugal), relations were no warmer with Portugal than under his predecessor. Discontent with the Vatican's dismissal of his requests, John retaliated against Benedict XIII in 1728, closing the Papal Nunciature in Lisbon, recalling all Portuguese cardinals from Rome, and prohibiting official relations between Portuguese subjects and the Holy See. Though Benedict XIII sought to resolve the issues through an amicable intermediary, King Philip V of Spain, though John refused.