A bishop has been ordained in China for the first time in over three years despite growing tensions between the Vatican and the government.
Joseph Zhang Yinlin was named coadjutor bishop of Anyang, in Henan province, three years after Shanghai Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin renounced his membership of the state-controlled Church during his ordination and was immediately imprisoned. Bishop Ma remains detained under house arrest and is largely confined to the diocesan seminary.
Despite growing tensions between the Vatican and the Chinese Government – the two states have not had diplomatic relations since the 1950s – Tuesday’s ordination was carried out with the approval both of the Holy See and the Communist Party.
The ordination was celebrated by Bishop Thomas Zhang Huaixin of Anyang. He was assisted by three bishops also recognised by both the Government and the Vatican: Bishops Shen Bin of Haimen in Jiangsu, Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun in Shandong and Wang Renlei of Xuzhou in Jiangsu.
More than 1,300 people attended the Mass, as well as 70 priests and 150 sisters.
Recently clergy in China have protested against the removal of crosses from churches in Zhejiang province by the Government. On Tuesday seven Protestants in Zhejiang who had protested against the removal of their church’s cross were detained accused of embezzlement and disrupting social order.
Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang of Wenzhou, 89, stood for nearly two hours leaning on his walking stick at the 24 July protest, which followed a diocesan meeting earlier in the day. Several police officers appeared at the scene but did not take action.
In January China told the Holy See to stop interfering in its internal affairs in the name of religion if it hoped for a thaw in relations between the two countries,
Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed a wish to bring about closer relations with the Asian superpower, saying he would visit “tomorrow” if he could. In December he declined a meeting with the Dalai Lama to avoid a diplomatic faux pas.
But following a telegram of greeting from Francis as he flew through Chinese airspace on his way back from the Philippines in January, the Beijing Government laid out its conditions for discussions.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, said that the Vatican should cut ties with Taiwan, which has been essentially independent since 1950, but which China regards as a rebel region.
He said: "We want to have a constructive dialogue with the Vatican based on the relevant topics.”
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