Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 11/06/2026 9:18:22 AM PST by ebb tide
Cardinal Pietro Parolin has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has given his assent to episcopal appointments made under the agreement between the Holy See and China, while acknowledging that the arrangement remains imperfect and defending the Vatican’s decision to continue implementing it.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, 5 November, the Vatican Secretary of State reaffirmed that the provisional agreement governing the appointment of Catholic bishops in the People’s Republic of China remains in force, with no change to the Vatican’s approach following its two renewals.
“That has been the line, so there have been no changes. The appointments of bishops are made according to the provisions of the Agreement, and the Pope has given his assent to this,” His Eminence said.
Cardinal Parolin was speaking on the occasion of an international conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome marking the centenary of the consecration of the first six Chinese bishops by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
The Secretary of State also responded to questions concerning recent remarks by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations, about the imperfections of the China-Vatican agreement.
“Of course, all agreements are imperfect. And therefore the one on China is too,” Cardinal Parolin said.
He acknowledged the particular difficulties surrounding the negotiations, citing the complexity of the circumstances in which the Holy See had to operate.
“Even more so because it was not such an easy Agreement due to the complexity of the situations and conditions in which we found ourselves acting, and in which we find ourselves acting,” His Eminence said.
Despite those difficulties, Cardinal Parolin insisted that the process remained open and should continue. Referring to the centenary gathering, he called the anniversary a sign of hope and urged the Vatican to improve the existing arrangement.
“The path is open,” His Eminence said, adding: “Therefore, let us move forward, seeking to perfect what is imperfect.”
The conference, entitled The Face of the Universal Church in China, 100 Years from the Consecration of the First Six Chinese Bishops, is being held in the university’s Auditorium St John Paul II from 10.30am until 6pm. It brings together senior Vatican officials, Chinese bishops and academics to examine the development of the Catholic hierarchy in China and its relationship with the universal Church.
Among the participants are Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau Yan, the Jesuit Bishop of Hong Kong, Giuseppe Li Shan, Bishop of Beijing, and Ignazio Ding Zuyao, Bishop of Haimen.
Cardinal Chow is scheduled to address the relationship between inculturation, Sinicisation and intercultural formation in the establishment of the Chinese Catholic hierarchy. His contribution is entitled “Inculturation, Sinicization, Interculturality of Formation in Light of the Establishment of the Chinese Catholic Hierarchy”.
The gathering marks the events of 28 October 1926, when Pius XI consecrated Odorico Cheng Hede, Melchior Sun Dezhen, Giuseppe Hu Ruoshan, Filippo Zhao Huaiyi, Simone Zhu Kaimin and Aloysius Chen Guodi in St Peter’s Basilica.
They were the first Chinese bishops of the contemporary era. Until then, the episcopate in China had been composed of foreign missionaries. Their consecration marked a turning point in the Holy See’s missionary policy, seeking to establish a local hierarchy and move away from a colonial mentality in the Church’s missionary activity.
The change had been prepared by Benedict XV’s apostolic letter Maximum illud in 1919 and the Shanghai Council of 1924. Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Delegate in China, was among the principal architects of the development of an indigenous Chinese episcopate.
The presence of the two bishops from mainland China is particularly significant. Bishop Li Shan was ordained in 2007 with the apostolic mandate of Benedict XVI, while Bishop Ding was consecrated on 15 October under the framework of the provisional agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.
Bishop Ding succeeds Simone Zhu Kaimin, one of the six bishops consecrated by Pius XI in 1926, who subsequently became the first Apostolic Vicar of Haimen.
Cardinal Parolin delivered the conference’s opening address at 10.50am, following a welcome from Professor Andrea D’Auria, Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Urbaniana. A documentary by Teresa Tseng Kuang Yi, entitled A Long Journey. The Adventure of the Six Chinese Bishops Consecrated in Rome by Pius XI in 1926, was also screened.
Bishop Li Shan was scheduled to address the gathering at 11.30am, followed by Cardinal Chow at 11.55am. Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, Secretary Emeritus of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will address the juridical elements of the first ordinations, while Monsignor Flavio Belluomini, archivist of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will examine documents relating to the 1926 consecrations preserved in the historical archive of Propaganda Fide.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches, is scheduled to deliver the concluding address at 5.35pm.
Under the Vatican-China agreement, the Chinese authorities have a role in proposing episcopal candidates, while the Pope retains the final authority, including the ability to reject a proposed candidate. However, the complete agreement has never been made public.
The agreement has already been tested by instances in which Beijing acted without the Vatican’s prior agreement. One of the most significant disputes occurred in November 2022, when Chinese authorities installed Bishop Giovanni Peng Weizhao as an auxiliary bishop in Jiangxi, a province whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction was not recognised by the Holy See.
The Vatican responded publicly, expressing “surprise and regret” and stating that the appointment did not conform to the spirit of dialogue agreed upon in 2018. It also said that the installation had followed strong pressure from local authorities.
The following year, another dispute emerged when Beijing transferred Bishop Joseph Shen Bin from Haimen to Shanghai without prior consultation with Rome. Shen was installed in Shanghai in April 2023. Cardinal Parolin subsequently acknowledged that the Holy See had not been consulted and said the unilateral transfer contradicted the agreement’s spirit of dialogue and collaboration.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.