Vatican asks underground bishops to step down: report
China and the Vatican are expected to see a breakthrough in the long-stranded issue of the appointment of bishops as a Vatican delegation reportedly supports the episcopal see of two Beijing-supported bishops, a Chinese expert said Wednesday.
The Vatican delegation, which went to China in December 2017, required the 88-year-old Zhuang Jianjian to leave his see to Huang Bingzhang in Shantou, South China’s Guangdong Province, Asia News, an outlet of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, reported on Monday.
Huang was ordained in 2011 in Guangdong. However, he was “excommunicated” by the Vatican after the ordination took place, a move that was strongly opposed by China’s religious authorities.
Huang refused an interview request from the Global Times on Wednesday, saying that he has no information on the reported issue.
Guo Xijin, who is reportedly from the underground community in Mindong, East China’s Fujian Province, was also asked to step down as bishop assistant to the Beijing supported Zhan Silu, Asia News reported.
Though the contact with the bishops could not be verified as of press time, experts said the reported contact shows that both sides are proactively working toward a path with maximum consensus.
If both sides reach a consensus on the appointment of bishops via the Vatican delegation’s trip, a breakthrough in the long-stranded issue could be expected, said Wang Meixiu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The consensus could be how a bishop, both acknowledged by Beijing and the Vatican, could be appointed and in what procedure, Wang added. Chances are high that the Vatican might revoke the 2011 decision after years of observation, she added.
China and the Vatican resumed official contact in 2014 and it has continued, which shows that both sides share a willingness to negotiate and left a good impression during the contact, Wang said.
Huang was elected vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in December 2016.
It will still take a long time for the underground church in China to reach an understanding of the Vatican’s decision on this issue, but it’s worth looking forward to, Wang said.
The cautious attitude was shared by Francesco Sisci, a senior researcher at the Center of European Studies at the Renmin University of China and a Vatican affairs expert, who said that it is hard to say that there is a breakthrough on the normalization of China-Vatican ties though he thinks there is progress in the talks.
“The Vatican respects and will respect the necessities of the Chinese government. Also, the Vatican wishes that Chinese local governments will be more attentive to the Chinese Catholics and their appeals. It doesn’t have a political target, not targeting Taiwan or any other region,” Sisci said.