Looks like the hope of religious freedom in Red China is fading, as the puppet "Catholic" organization set up by the government continued to consecrate bishops in defiance of papal authority on the matter.

For the second time in four days, China's government-sponsored Catholic church consecrated a new bishop without the pope's approval Wednesday, casting a deeper chill on what had been promising efforts to end half a century of hostility between China and the Vatican.

The new bishop, Liu Xinhong, was installed as Anhui province's top prelate in a morning ceremony at St. Joseph's Church in Wuhu, in eastern China, according to a church official who declined to be identified. His ascension followed the consecration Sunday of Ma Yinglin as bishop of Kunming, in southwestern China's Yunnan province, in spite of a request from the Vatican for more time to consider whether he could meet the pope's approval.

Elevation of the two bishops without Vatican approval was organized by the official Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which oversees about a third of China's more than 10 million Catholics under the authority of the Communist Party and the government's Religious Affairs Bureau. The other 6 million or 7 million Chinese Catholics, who recognize the Vatican's leadership in matters of faith, worship in churches not approved by the government, sometimes called underground or home churches, and do not fall under the association's purview.

The entire problem could have been avoided by waiting for Vatican approval, which was likely forthcoming. This is therefore best seen as a deliberate slap at the Vatican, and an unnecessary provocation.

Expect to see talks between the Vatican and Red China end as a aresult of this perfidious interference with religious matters.

Posted by: Greg at 01:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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