Pope Leo confirms appointment of Chinese bishop ‘elected’ after Francis’ death

Observers had suggested that the Chinese authorities defied the agreement with the Vatican on episcopal appointments intended to ensure their mutual recognition of bishops.

The Vatican confirmed the appointment of a bishop in China “elected” by local clergy during the sede vacante period after Pope Francis’ death.

A statement from the Holy See on Friday reported the episcopal ordination of Fr Francis Li Jianlin as bishop for the apostolic prelature of Xinxiang in Henan province. It said Pope Leo had appointed him on 11 August “in accordance with the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China” after accepting the resignation of Li’s predecessor Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu.

The Bishop of Shanghai Joseph Shen Bin presided at the ordination Mass, according to Agenzia Fides, the news service of the Pontifical Missions Societies. Fr Joseph Yang Yu, the secretary general of the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference – a state-backed body which the Vatican does not recognise – read out its letter approving his appointment.

Church authorities in China reported Li’s election on 29 April, eight days after the death of Pope Francis. No canonical appointment was possible until the election of Pope Leo on 9 May, leading observers to suggest the Chinese authorities were defying the agreement with the Vatican on episcopal appointments intended to ensure their mutual recognition of bishops. 

Shanghai clergy also elected a new auxiliary in Bishop Shen Bin’s diocese on 28 April. He presided at the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ignatius Wu Jianlin on 15 October, the same day that the Vatican announced Pope Leo had appointed Wu on 11 August. Another auxiliary, Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, has been detained by the authorities since his ordination in 2012.

In Xinxiang, the 67-year-old Bishop Zhang was not recognised by the Chinese authorities, having been ordained in secret in 1991. As an “underground” bishop, he faced repeated arrest while conducting his ministry, most recently in May 2021 according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom which has yet to confirm whether he has been released.

Li, a 51-year-old Henan native, was ordained for Xinxiang in 1999 and has served in parishes and as a formation director. In 2018, as secretary for the Henan Commission for Church Affairs, Li was one of the signatories of a letter on the principle of “separating religion from education”, which banned minors in the province from attending Mass.

On Saturday, the Holy See Press Office reported that the Chinese civil authorities had recognised “the episcopal dignity” of Bishop Zhang. 

“This measure is the result of dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and constitutes an important new step in the journey of communion of the ecclesiastical circumscription,” said its director Matteo Bruni.

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