China is planning to ordain another bishop without the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, this time in the northeastern city of Harbin, according to Church sources in the mainland. The Holy See has made very clear that the papal mandate is “a must” for any candidate to receive ordination as bishop, and if a priest presents himself for ordination without that he incurs automatic excommunication.
Already the Chinese authorities have begun preparations to ordain Father Joseph Yue Fusheng as bishop in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, northeastern China.
This time again, as in summer 2011, the Chinese authorities appear to be insisting that it is Beijing and not Rome that has the final say on who becomes bishop in the People’s Republic of China.
The ordination could take place on June 29 according to UCA News, which first broke the story based on information from local Church sources.
Father Yue is to be ordained as bishop of Heilongjiang, a diocese created by the state sanctioned Church authorities by merging all the ecclesiastical territories in the province into one diocese, which in 1959 they called Harbin but in 1983 changed its named to Heilongjiang – the same name as the province. The new diocese is not recognized by the Holy See.
Born in Hebei province in 1964, Father Yu was ordained priest in 1988. He is one of the ten vice-chairpersons of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), an entity created by the state to control the Catholic Church in China, but not recognized by the Holy See. In his 2007 Letter to Catholics in mainland China, Pope Benedict stated clearly that the CCPA is “incompatible” with Catholic Church doctrine.
Today, Father Yue is the only one of the seven members of the clergy in the leadership of the CCPA who is not a bishop.
Last year, in June and July, China organized the Episcopal ordinations without papal approval of the other two vice chairpersons of the CCPA who were not yet bishops. Fr Joseph Huang Bingzhang and Fr Paul Lei Shiyin were then illicitly ordained bishops of Shantou and Leshan respectively, in total defiance of the Holy See. This upcoming ordination in Harbin seems to be following the same path.
Fr Yue, 48, was first elected as bishop candidate for the Heilongjiang diocese way back in 1999, but for unknown reasons the state-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference (BCCCC - an entity not recognized by the Holy See) never gave its approval for his ordination.
On May 16, however, the Government authorities held a re-confirmation election in Harbin attended by 64 representatives of the Heilongjiang diocese including 36 priests. Government officials closely monitored the event, as Fr Yue’s election was re-confirmed in a tense atmosphere by a show of hands, with one vote against and one abstention, UCA News reported.
Harbin is known as “Ice City” because of its very low temperatures, and if the ordination goes ahead there without the papal mandate it will bring an icy, cold chill to Sino-Vatican relations.