China's state-run Catholic Church ordained another bishop yesterday without Vatican approval, religious officials said, in a move seen as further damaging relations between the Holy See and Beijing.
Wang Renlei (
"The ceremony was held this morning and was attended by about 50 people, all of whom were clergymen," said the official, surnamed Hu.
"The Chinese Church is an autonomous church. The attitude of the Vatican will not influence the normal activities of the Chinese Church," he said.
The Vatican reportedly expressed dismay this week over Wang's candidature, saying China's move was a sign of disrespect for Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church.
"What interest can the Chinese government have in going through with this new gesture of offense against the Pope and the Church?" the Vatican-based AsiaNews agency cited unnamed Vatican sources as saying.
Wang is the fourth bishop ordained in China this year without the blessing of the Vatican.
China installed new bishops Ma Yinglin (馬英林) on April 30 in Anhui Province and Liu Xinhong (劉新紅) in Yunnan Province on May 3 despite Vatican objections.
On May 14, Zhan Silu (
Since becoming pope last year, Benedict XVI has sought to improve ties with Beijing in an effort to get closer to millions of Chinese Catholics, but the consecrations have been seen as a setback to those efforts.
China's state-sanctioned church, which does not answer to the pope, has about 4 million worshippers, official figures show. The Vatican estimates that an illegal, or underground, church has around 10 million followers.
Official Chinese Catholics are forced to renounce loyalty to the pope, as the communist regime has long suspected Christian churches of being agents of the West.
Anthony Lam (
"The action that the Patriotic Association has taken is a bad prospect for the reconciliation between Beijing and the Holy See and will be an obstacle to normalization [between Rome and Beijing]," Lam said.
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