China has held off on ordaining bishops without Vatican approval, but government interference in the state-backed Chinese church is still a concern, Hong Kong’s cardinal – a key adviser to the pope – said Monday. Beijing and the Vatican don’t have diplomatic relations, and the power to appoint bishops is a major sticking point between them.
China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power.
Worship is allowed only in state-backed churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader.
The churches name their own priests and bishops, but the Vatican has made efforts in recent years to recognize them.
While China hasn’t ordained a bishop without the Vatican’s approval since 2006, it held a celebration in December marking the 50th anniversary of the state-backed Chinese church’s first bishop appointment, Cardinal Joseph Zen said in a speech to the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
Bishops also made speeches in support of a Chinese church independent of the Vatican.
“This surely is unacceptable,” Zen said, noting that Pope Benedict XVI considered the celebration a “provocation.”
Benedict has made improving relations with Beijing a priority, but there has been little evidence of progress in his four-year effort.
Millions of Chinese belong to unofficial congregations that are loyal to Rome.
Underground priests and bishops have been harassed or arrested, and the Vatican recently denounced a new wave of arrests, accusing Beijing of creating obstacles to a dialogue.
The cardinal also expressed worries that Beijing would coerce or bribe bishops into attending a possible meeting later this year to choose the new chairmen of the state-backed Chinese church and the Chinese bishops’ conference.
Zen said bishops had been paid as much as 700,000 Chinese yuan ($103,000) to attend ordinations of bishops not approved by Rome.
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Source (RMTC)
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