Vatican approves new ordination

A diocese in central China has ordained the country’s first Catholic bishop in three years, in a potential sign of a thawing in  relations between Beijing and the Vatican, writes Ellen Teague.

Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin, 44, was installed as coadjutor bishop of Anyang in Henan province on 4 August. He shares the position as head of the diocese with 90-year-old Bishop Thomas Zhang Huaixin, who presided over the ordination. Three other bishops, all Vatican-approved and government-recognised, concelebrated. The ordination took place with Vatican approval, possibly indicating a return to the formula under which Chinese authorities, who claim the sole right to appoint bishops, name candidates whom the Vatican then tacitly accepts.

The service at Anyang’s Sacred Heart Cathedral was attended by 75 priests, 120 nuns and 1,500 lay Catholics. In 2012, Beijing arrested Shanghai Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin after he renounced membership of the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association on his ordination day. He has not been seen in public since then.