Red China forcibly severed the relationship between Chinese Catholics and the Vatican in 1951. Those who have remained loyal to the Pope have suffered persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom at the hands of the atheistic Communist regime in Beijing. In recent years, there has been movement on the part of the Chinese government (which rigidly controls the "official" Catholic Church in China) to permitting Chinese Catholics to end the government-imposed schism. Hope has been rising that there might be, at last, freedom of worship and autonomy under the aegis of Vatican approved bishops.

Unfortunately, this hope seems to have been dashed today.

China's state-sanctioned Roman Catholic Church ordained a new bishop Sunday, rejecting the Vatican's request to delay the appointment and threatening efforts to restore official ties between the sides after five decades.

China's Foreign Ministry defended the official church's right to ordain bishops without Vatican input and called the Holy See's criticism of such appointments "groundless."

The ordination could damage recent efforts to restore Sino-Vatican ties, cut in 1951 after the Communist Party took control in China. One of the stumbling blocks in improving relations has long been a dispute over who has the authority to appoint bishops.

"The recent ordination of bishops at some diocese have been unanimously well-received by church members and priests," the Foreign Ministry said in a faxed statement. "The criticism toward the Chinese side by the Vatican is groundless."

China's church - the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association - held a ceremony for the new bishop, Ma Yinglin, in the city of Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province.

Hong Kong Cable TV showed Ma wearing his new bishop's hat and carrying an ornate gold staff as he waved to the faithful.

Lett me make one thing clear -- there is no "state-sanctioned Roman Catholic Church". There is a counterfeit Catholic Church used as a propaganda piece by the Red Chinese. Roman Catholics are persecuted for their faith, for they refuse to join the state-controlled body.

Will the UN, or the nations of the world, stand up and condemn this fundamental violation of religious freedom and intereference in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church by a govenrment which officially denies the that God exists?

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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