The official Chinese Catholic church has ordained another bishop in defiance of the Vatican, the third such ordination in the past year. Eight bishops who are loyal to the Vatican attended the public ceremony under police escort. From Reuters:
China’s state-sanctioned Catholic church ordained Joseph Huang Bingzhang as bishop in Shantou city in southern Guangdong province on Thursday morning, the honorary president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, Liu Bainian, said, citing sources with direct knowledge.
Two other sources, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that Huang’s ordination was a public ceremony attended by about 1,000 people.
Eight bishops loyal to the Holy See participated in the ceremony, a source close to the Vatican told Reuters, citing six sources who had direct knowledge of the situation. He declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
“All 8 bishops were requested by civil authorities to go and ordain the new illicit bishop,” said the source. “All of them were accompanied by the police to the place of the event. The majority of the bishops refused and resisted to go.”
See also a report from the Telegraph. Read news about the July 4th ordination of Paul Lei Shiyin, which was also rejected by the Vatican. Read more about the Catholic Church in China.
