Two excommunicated, illicit Chinese bishops have been ordaining priests in defiance of the Vatican, causing anxiety for the Chinese faithful.
Officially, religious organisations in mainland China must be government-approved, and no organisation may owe allegiance to “foreign influence”, which includes the Pope. China’s Communist Government established the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) in 1957. The CPCA rejects the authority of the Holy See and appoints its own bishops, who are not recognised by the Vatican.
Fr Joseph Yue Fusheng was declared excommunicated by the Vatican in 2012 after he was ordained Bishop of Harbin without a papal mandate. On 6 August this year, he illicitly ordained three priests in a large ceremony with 31 concelebrants. Father Lei Shiyin, another illicitly ordained bishop, who was excommunicated in 2011, ordained a priest and presided over the vows of two nuns on 29 June. Over 1000 Catholics attended, including some government officials. Fr Lei had illicitly ordained four priests on the same date in 2012.
One leader of the Catholic Church in China anonymously expressed concerns that the illicit ordinations are an indication of increased government control over the Church, “turning the Church into a tool of the state to fulfil its political agenda.”
Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi of Qiquihar, the only licit bishop in Heilongjiang province, where Father Yue Fusheng is based, said that whoever agreed to be ordained by Fr Yue “openly disobeys the Holy See.”
Fr Lei, however, said he had “no intention to challenge the Holy See.”
“The China Church has to pursue inculturation,” he said. “If we mind every word that people say, it would hinder the development of our diocese.”
The three illicit ordinations by Fr Yue came only two days after the Vatican-approved installation of Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin on 4 August. This was the first ordination of a Catholic Bishop in China in three years, and had seemed to indicate a thaw in relations between the Chinese Government and the Holy See.
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