Adam Minter has an interesting post on current and future bishops:
Earlier this week the South China Morning Post reported that Fr. Joseph Gan Junqiu received government approval to be ordained as bishop of Guangzhou on December 3 (Papal approval was granted earlier this year). According to a very reliable UCAN report, no date has been fixed, but preparations are underway [My thoughts on the Guangzhou situation can be found here.].
More important, the UCAN report includes news that two additional Chinese ordinations are imminent: Francis Lu Shouwang will be ordained bishop of Yichang on November 30; and Father Joseph Li Jing is tentatively scheduled to be ordained the co-adjutor bishop of Ningxia on December 8.
Both of these ordinations will take place with the Papal mandate, as well as with the approval of the Chinese government. But I think it is worth pointing out that – in all cases (including Guangzhou) – the Papal mandate came first (Yichang and Ningxia received Papal mandates earlier this year); government approval only came recently. Of course, the ordinations can’t be held in a government-registered church without government approval. But the mere fact that the government approval follows the Papal approval provides some insight into the method of bishop selection currently being used in China. It is also, dear readers, evidence of increasing religious freedom.
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Finally, according to the UCAN report, Bishop John Liu Jingshan of Ningxia is insisting that the co-ordaining bishops at his co-adjutor’s ordination “must be bishops recognized by the Pope.” Even twelve months ago, such a demand – made publicly by a government-registered bishop- would have been unthinkable. But the Pope’s June 30 letter to China’s Catholics, as well as increased dialog and interaction between registered, open Catholics has not only made it possible – but it offers the very real hope that the push-back will result in Papally-recognized ordaining bishops. Let’s see where this goes.
Fr Wang Zhong, from the diocese of Xiwanze (Hebei), was sentenced to three years in prison for organising the celebrations of the consecration of a church in Guyuan. AsiaNews received a copy of an unofficial transcript of the trial. It indicates that a valid building permit was issued by the Religious Affairs Bureau for the construction of church. But it also says that Father Wang was an underground priest, unaffiliated with the state-sanctioned China Catholic Patriotic Association (CCAP).
The diocese of Xiwanzi (Hebei) is part of the underground Church. It has about 15,000 members and is located some 260 km north of Beijing, not far from the border with Inner Mongolia.
In this area for months the police have waged a campaign against priests and bishops from the underground Church, on the instigation of the CCAP.
The diocese’s auxiliary bishop, Mgr Yao Liang, disappeared into police custody on 30 July 2006; another 20 faithful and 2 priests are also in prison.
Father Wang was arrested on July 24, 2006 and taken away along with two other priests who had found shelter at the residence of a Catholic family in Xilinguole (Inner Mongolia).
After his arrest he was kept in total isolation with no visitation rights.
His trial opened on 29 October 2007 in Kangbao, Zhangjiakou district (Hebei).
Catholic faithful who attended the proceedings in the courtroom said that Father Wang, 41, was “in good physical conditions despite his long beard. He seemed a bit weak though but faced the ordeal with courage and a smile on his face.”
Charges against him were finally made public at the trial.
He is accused of organising an unlawful meeting (celebrating the consecration of the Guyuan church which is devoted to the Holy heart), and using the official seal of the parish (which in China is legally equated with a valid signature) without the permission of state authorities.
The facts are that the church in Guyuan was built with the right permit and paid for by the faithful themselves who raised the money over a two-year period. Those who could not make a financial contribution offered their own labour.
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