CHINA'S STATE religious authorities said yesterday that the country's official Catholic Church plans to ordain Fr Joseph Guo Jincai of Chengde today, without papal approval, in a ceremony that looks certain to put further strain on relations between the Vatican and Beijing.
The world's cardinals are meeting to discuss religious freedom, sex abuse by clergy and other issues, but the latest dispute with China has cast a shadow over proceedings.
Liu Bainian, vice chairman of China's state-backed church, the Catholic Patriotic Association, said the ordination was going ahead but that the presence of other bishops at the ceremony was voluntary.
The Vatican said such actions would constitute "grave violations of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience".
Relations between Beijing and the Holy See have been difficult since the communists kicked foreign clergy out in the 1950s and severed ties with the Vatican. China's officially atheist government requires that Christians of all denominations worship in state-registered churches.
Since the years after the revolution in 1949, the communists have refused to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the pope; instead they have to join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which has five million members.
The Vatican estimates about eight million Chinese Catholics worship secretly in underground churches not recognised by the government.
The Vatican is one of the few countries in the world which gives diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. This is a key irritant to relations between the Holy See and Beijing. There are ongoing talks about switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. However, there are many stumbling blocks, not least Beijing's demand to have a veto over whom the Vatican appoints as bishop, which is why yesterday's announcement will anger the Vatican.
In recent years under Pope Benedict XVI, relations have improved. Disputes over appointments in China's official church have been avoided by quietly conferring on candidates, which means that most state-approved bishops have a Vatican blessing, but occasionally Beijing appoints bishops who do not meet Vatican approval.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken advocate of democracy and religious freedom in China, sharply rebuked China for proceeding with the ordination.
"It is really shameful, such an attempt to make another illegitimate ordination," he said.
