BEIJING — China ordained a new bishop in its state-sanctioned church yesterday without Vatican approval, a move that could further strain relations between Beijing and Roman Catholic authorities.
Wang Renlei, the 37-year-old vicar general of the Xuzhou Diocese in the eastern province of Jiangsu, was ordained in a two-hour ceremony attended by about 1,000 people, said Liu Bainian, deputy chairman of the government-backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
“The former Xuzhou bishop is over 90 years old. They need a new, younger bishop,” Mr. Liu said in a telephone interview after the ordination was finished. “This is the holy order and shouldn’t be disturbed.”
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AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated news agency, said Bishop Wang “is known as an easygoing person who is very timid toward the government.” The agency reported Wednesday that two bishops who were ordained with the approval of the Vatican were detained in Hebei province, in China’s north, with the aim of forcing them to take part in Bishop Wang’s ordination.
The news agency said priests in the official church are increasingly reluctant to ordain, or be ordained, without the Vatican’s permission.
Video of Bishop Wang’s ordination ceremony, carried on Hong Kong’s cable TV, showed throngs of people crowding around and taking pictures of the bishop, who wore a white robe and carried a golden staff.
China’s ties with the Vatican were broken in 1951 after the communists took power.
A major obstacle to the resumption of formal relations is a dispute over who has the power to appoint bishops. The Vatican has said it wants the final say on appointments but is willing to listen to China’s opinion. Beijing, however, doesn’t appear ready to surrender control.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the Vatican should “understand” the current system of naming bishops in China.
“We sincerely hope for the improvement of our relations with the Vatican and would like to further explore ways to do that,” she said at a regular briefing.
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