A Chinese Catholic bishop has been ordained with approval from the Pope and Beijing for the first time under an agreement intended to encourage a rapprochement between China and the Holy See.
China’s nearly 12 million Catholics have for decades been split between a government-run association, whose clergy were chosen by the Chinese Communist Party, and an unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
However, under the terms of the deal agreed on in September last year, both Beijing and the Vatican are to have a say in appointing Catholic bishops.
China’s official church, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said that Antonio Yao Shun (姚順) on Monday was ordained as bishop of the diocese of Ulan Chab in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The law in China requires priests and bishops to register and align with the nation’s official church.
However, the Vatican said that the bishop had also “received the Papal mandate” at the ordination, Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni said in a statement.
It said that the ordination was the “first to take place in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,” which severed diplomatic relations in 1951.
According to a report in the state-run Global Times yesterday, China faces a shortage of bishops, with about one-third of the 98 dioceses having no bishops and many older bishops set to retire.
State media reports said that another Chinese bishop was set to be ordained yesterday, although the official church did not confirm this.
Pope Francis recognized seven clergy appointed by China as part of the deal, despite fears that the deal would be used to crack down on worshipers outside the official church.
Although ties have improved as China’s Catholic population grows and the Vatican intensifies efforts to restore relations, tensions remain.
The Vatican is Taiwan’s only European diplomatic ally.
In June, the Vatican called for Beijing not to intimidate Catholics who were still choosing to worship at underground churches that refuse to swear allegiance to the official state church.
The past few years have also seen a clampdown on religious worship in China on multiple fronts, with churches destroyed and restrictions on the sale of Bibles.
The agreement met with fierce criticism from some quarters when it was announced last year.
Hong Kong’s former bishop, Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), said at the time that the deal was “a major step toward the annihilation of the real Church in China.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of