Religion: May 2006 Archives
Rahul Tandon
BBC religious affairs reporter
May 14, 2006
Tension between China and the Vatican looks set to escalate after the state-controlled Catholic church appointed another bishop without approval of the Holy See.
Bishop Zhan Silu, 45, was installed as head of Mindong Diocese in eastern China's Fujian province during a ceremony held by the Chinese Patriotic Church on Sunday.
But the appointment was made without the blessing of Pope Benedict XVI.
Earlier this month, the Vatican reacted angrily to the appointment of two other bishops by the state-controlled Patriotic Church.
China has both a state-run Catholic association and an underground church which is loyal to the Vatican.
Lui Xinhong and Ma Yinglin may not be household names outside China but their consecration has cast a shadow over fragile talks to re-establish links between the Vatican and China which were severed over half a century ago.
By JIM YARDLEY and KEITH BRADSHER | The New York Times
May 13, 2006
SHENYANG, China, May 9 — From the moment in 1978 when China reopened itself, conditionally, to the outside world, the Roman Catholic Church has been painstakingly working to get back in. Hopes have been raised, then dashed, but this year Rome and Beijing finally seemed close to a historic deal to normalize relations.
Then, unexpectedly, a public spat last week over China's installation of two bishops without the Vatican's approval changed everything. Now, the debate is over how much damage has been done, and why efforts to end 55 years of diplomatic isolation have again gone wrong.
"It is potentially a huge problem," said the Rev. Jeroom Heyndrickx, a Belgian priest who has acted as an emissary between the sides. "It's a confrontation. There was an informal dialogue going on. This has been cut off now. The question is, can we go on from here?"
The Communist Party and the Catholic Church, whose last missionaries were ordered out of China in the early 1950's, make formidable adversaries, each reluctant to give up authority
FINANCIAL TIMES
06 May 2006
By Mure Dickie in Beijing
In a 1958 encyclical, Pope Pius XII assured Chinese Roman Catholics they could rely on intervention from a powerful source: "Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, Queen of China."
Describing Mary as the nation's sovereign may have reassured a Chinese flock thrown into turmoil by the Communist revolution. But for the country's leaders, it was a reminder of Catholic claims to authority that could only be anathema to fiercely nationalist and atheist revolutionaries.
Half a century later, questions of power and loyalty still bedevil ties between the Vatican and Beijing. Just this week, hopes for a rapprochement have been dashed by the government-controlled Chinese church's appointment of two new bishops without papal approval.
"This is a grave wound to the unity of the Church," a Vatican spokesman said, adding that Pope Benedict XVI had learned of the appointment of the two bishops with "great displeasure".
DIE WELT (Deutschland | Germany)
by Paul Badde
05 May 2006
Es ist ein wahrer Kulturkampf. Das kommunistische China ernennt auf eigene Faust Kandidaten der staatsnahen "patriotischen" Kirche zu "katholischen" Bischöfen. Gerade das Prinzip der "Sukzession" gehört aber unverzichtbar zum Wesen der katholischen Kirche, die sich immer auch schon als "apostolisch" verstanden hat. Es ist dies das Prinzip der unmittelbaren und ununterbrochenen Nachfolge aller Bischöfe seit den Tagen der Apostel. Seit 2000 Jahren kann deshalb jeder katholische Bischof genau die Linie der Herkunft aller Hände bestimmen, die all seinen Vorgängern schon seit den Tagen der Urgemeinde in Jerusalem die Hände aufgelegt haben, bis die Weihe durch die Hände seiner unmittelbaren Vorgänger ihn selbst erreichte. "Diese Dienstkette dauert bis heute an", unterstrich Papst Benedikt XVI. gerade bei seiner Generalaudienz auf dem Petersplatz, "und sie wird bis zum Ende der Welt andauern."
By Associated Press | via CNN
04 May 2006
The Vatican has excommunicated two bishops ordained by China's state-approved Catholic church, as well as the two bishops who presided over the ceremony without Vatican consent.
In a statement, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said on Thursday the Roman Catholic Church's canon law states that in such a case excommunication is automatic.
Earlier the Vatican strongly criticized the ordination of the bishops, saying they represented a "grave violation of religious freedom" and hindered dialogue between the Vatican and Beijing.
A statement Thursday from the Vatican spokesman said Pope Benedict XVI was deeply saddened at the news of the ordinations, which took place without Vatican approval. It called on Chinese authorities to prevent any such moves in the future -- noting they lead to excommunication.
"The Holy Father learned of the news with great sadness," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in the statement. "It is a great wound to the unity of the Church."
Corriere Della Sera
04 May 2006
La Santa Sede: «Grave violazione della libertà religiosa»
Pechino nomina due nuovi alti prelati in tre giorni senza l'avallo del Papa che esprime il suo «profondo dispiacere»
ROMA - Sale la tensione tra Cina e Santa Sede. Pechino ha nominato un vescovo per la seconda volta in pochi giorni senza l'assenso del Papa, una decisione che suscita amarezza e preoccupazione in Vaticano. Le ordinazioni illegali dei due vescovi «una grave violazione della libertà religiosa», ha detto il portavoce Joaquin Navarro Valls in una dichiarazione diffusa in mattinata. La Santa Sede ribadisce la necessità del rispetto della «libertà» della Chiesa e dell'autonomia «delle sue istituzioni da qualsiasi ingerenza esterna».
ROMA - Sale la tensione tra Cina e Santa Sede. Pechino ha nominato un vescovo per la seconda volta in pochi giorni senza l'assenso del Papa, una decisione che suscita amarezza e preoccupazione in Vaticano. Le ordinazioni illegali dei due vescovi «una grave violazione della libertà religiosa», ha detto il portavoce Joaquin Navarro Valls in una dichiarazione diffusa in mattinata. La Santa Sede ribadisce la necessità del rispetto della «libertà» della Chiesa e dell'autonomia «delle sue istituzioni da qualsiasi ingerenza esterna».
BBC News
04 May 2006
The Vatican has expressed "deep displeasure" over China's appointment of two Roman Catholic bishops.
The appointment of the bishops without the Vatican's approval represented a "grave violation of religious freedom", a statement said.
China's Catholic Church announced on Wednesday it had installed another bishop - the second in three days.
The Chinese Church does not recognise the Vatican's power to appoint bishops, causing tensions between the two sides.
China has a state-sanctioned Roman Catholic Church, but also a bigger, unofficial Church that is loyal to the Pope.
On Wednesday, Liu Xinhong was consecrated at a church in Anhui province in eastern China, while on Sunday the state church ordained Ma Yinglin as a bishop in the south-western province of Yunnan.
The statement was unusually strong in tone, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
"The Holy Father learned the news with deep displeasure," said the statement.
"We are faced with a great violation of religious freedom."
By REUTERS | The New York Times
02 May 2006
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is poised to appoint another bishop to its state-run Catholic Church despite Vatican disapproval, escalating tensions with the Holy See as the two sides vie for influence over Chinese church affairs.
A priest in the Communist Party-approved church in the central province of Anhui is to be consecrated bishop of the province, a vice chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, Liu Bainian, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Liu Xinhong's appointment is opposed by the Vatican, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.
It comes just days after a senior official in the government-approved church, Ma Yingling, was appointed bishop of Yunnan province in the face of objections from Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen and reported disapproval from the Holy See.
Zen told the Hong Kong newspaper that the string of bishops promoted without Vatican approval suggested the state-run Patriotic Association was attempting to derail expanding dialogue between Beijing and the Vatican.
The two sides severed ties after 1949, when the victorious Communist Party cracked down on religion. The Vatican switched official recognition to Taiwan, where the anti-Communist Chinese Nationalists fled.
BBC News
May 2, 2006
The head of Hong Kong's Roman Catholic Church says the Vatican must halt talks with China because of its appointment of bishops without Vatican consent.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, who has been at the forefront of the move to improve ties, said Beijing had imposed a "fait accompli" and had been "very disloyal".
His comments come just days after state-sanctioned clerics in the Chinese city of Kunming ordained a new bishop.
The Vatican had asked for the ceremony to be delayed, to assess the candidate.
But Beijing said the Vatican should not to interfere in its internal affairs.
Another bishop is set to be appointed in central Anhui province without Vatican approval on Wednesday.
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