The Vatican has
threatened a bishop with excommunication after he was ordained by
China's state-backed Catholic Church without papal approval.
Pope Benedict XVI had learned of the ordination of Rev Joseph
Guo Jincai "with deep regret" as it constituted a "grave violation" of
Church law, it said.
The Vatican also accused Beijing of "grave violations of
freedom of religion and conscience" because it forced Vatican-approved
bishops to attend the ceremony.
China's estimated 10 million Catholics are split between
followers of the Pope and members of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association.
The association is not in communion with Rome and refuses to accept the sole authority of the Pope to appoint new bishops.
Rev Guo, who was ordained in the north-eastern city of Chengde amid high security, is the organisation's deputy leader.
'Painful repercussions'
In an unusually strongly-worded statement, the Vatican accused the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association of gravely damaging the faith.
"The Holy Father received the
news with deep regret, because the above-mentioned episcopal ordination
was conferred without the apostolic mandate and, therefore, constitutes a
painful wound upon ecclesial communion and a grave violation of
Catholic discipline," it said.
But what seems to have annoyed the Vatican most of all is
that the Chinese authorities forced other bishops loyal to the Pope to
attend the ceremony against their will, says the BBC's David Willey in
Rome.
"It is known that, in recent days, various bishops were
subjected to pressures and restrictions on their freedom of movement,
with the aim of forcing them to participate and confer the episcopal
ordination," the statement said.
"Such constraints, carried out by Chinese government and
security authorities, constitute a grave violation of freedom of
religion and conscience," it added.
The Vatican said the ordination would have "painful
repercussions" for Rev Guo, who "finds himself in a most serious
canonical condition before the Church in China and the universal Church,
exposing himself also to the severe sanctions envisaged... [by] the
Code of Canon Law".
However, Liu Bainian, vice-chairman of the Chinese Catholic
Patriotic Association, said he did not believe the excommunication would
be formalised.
"There are so many followers in China. I believe the Pope
loves China, he won't make such a decision," he told the Associated
Press.
China broke off diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1951
but in recent years informal relations had been improving between
Beijing and Rome, with an occasional visit by a senior Vatican cardinal.
But Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was in Rome for the
creation of new cardinals by Pope Benedict last weekend, told the BBC
the latest move by China was a virtual act of war against the Catholic
Church there.
SIC: BBC/INT'L