Second in two days.
According to AsiaNews sources, the Vatican made a final attempt to stop the ordination by sending a personal message to Father Liu asking him to not submit himself to the ordination. This is the second illegal ordination in less than a week, after the one that took place in Kunming last April 30. These two ordinations, and those – at least 20 – that will come in the near future, were scheduled by Anthony Liu Bainian, Vice-President of the Patriotic Association, the organization that controls the Church and that has among its aims to foster a nationalistic Church independent of Rome.
Over recent years, Beijing and Rome had arrived at a working agreement by which the Vatican had the last word on candidates for the episcopacy.
Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong stated the ambiguous behaviour of Beijing “is destroying any trust” and is putting a halt to initial steps to dialogue between China and the Vatican.
On Jan. 6, 2000, five bishops were ordained in Beijing without papal mandate, which strained relations between China and the Vatican. China ordained another bishop that June without papal approval.
One Chinese Catholic source told Catholic News Service that at least one and probably more than one of those bishops have since reconciled with the Vatican.
In early 2001, UCA News reported that some 70 seminarians and teachers were expelled from China’s national seminary for not attending the unapproved ordinations.
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