From the New York Times (link)
Another Catholic bishop was consecrated in China on Sunday, the third in recent days, in a ceremony approved by the Vatican yet still unlikely to assuage the deepening rift between the Chinese government and Rome.
The ordination of an auxiliary bishop in this industrial city occurred three days after Pope Benedict XVI rebuked China for consecrating two bishops in the past eight days without approval from Rome. China responded Sunday by describing the criticism as “unfounded” and defending the consecrations as within the government’s purview.
“The Chinese government is always sincere and has made unremitting efforts in improving its ties with the Vatican,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, state media reported. A day earlier, an official with China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs said Benedict’s condemnation “makes no sense.”
