China to challenge Pope ordination

China to challenge Pope ordination
REUTERS

ROME, JANUARY 4: China is planning to ordain at least three new bishops for its state-run Catholic church on the same day as Pope John Paul creates new bishops around the world at a Vatican ceremony, a missionary news agency has said.

The news agency, Misna, on Monday described the Chinese plan as ``extremely serious''. It named no sources but said the Beijing ceremony coincided with the Pope's scheduled ordination of 12 new bishops on January six, the Feast of the Epiphany. The state church, the Chinese patriotic Catholic association, does not recognise the Pope's authority.

Beijing cites the holy see's ties with Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province, as an insurmountable block to establishing relations. The Vatican has had no diplomatic links with Communist China since it closed its embassy in Beijing in 1951.

``The news is not a little surprising. In the past few months, insistent rumours have circulated about a probable rapprochement soon in relations between Beijing and the holysee,'' Misna said in a statement.

``The date is just as important. The Catholic church in China would be setting up a counter-altar in Beijing while in Rome the Pope conducts the traditional ordination of bishops from around the world,'' it said.

``The Chinese government, which is once again forcing its desire for absolute control on to Catholics, is certainly behind the ordination decision,'' it said.

Misna said reliable sources had told the newspaper Asia News on Monday that China was planning to ordain bishops for the dioceses of Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou. The sources had indicated that other prelates may also be ordained.

The current bishop of Nanjing is Liu Yuanren, who lives in Beijing, Misna said.

The other two dioceses are vacant, although Suzhou is under the apostolic administration of cardinal Ignatius Gong Pinmei, who now lives in exile in the United States after 30 years in jail for refusing to recognise the state-sanctioned church.