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Pope Leo XIV appointed the first Chinese bishop of his papacy, reporting that he will continue a historical agreement that sought to improve relations between the Vatican and China.
The two parties welcomed the appointment of the auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou Joseph Lin Yuntuan as an affirmation of their commitment to the 2018 agreement, which was reached under fire Francis.
The agreement gave Chinese officials a contribution to the appointment of bishops. However, its content has never been entirely disclosed to the public.
Beijing insists that the State must approve the appointment of bishops in China, contrary to the insistence of the Catholic Church that it is a papal decision.
China has around 10 million Catholics.
Currently, they are faced with the choice of frequenting churches sanctioned by the state approved by Beijing or love in the underground congregations who swore allegiance to the Vatican.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said that the Ministry of Yuntuan had been “recognized” by Chinese law.
“This event is another fruit of dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is an important step in the communion trip of the diocese,” said the Vatican.
Asked about the appointment of Yuntuan, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, told journalists on Thursday that it showed how the 2018 agreement was “gently,” the state media reported.
China is ready to work with the Vatican to continue to improve relations, he said.
The Pope’s decision shows a “desire to support reconciliation instead of antagonism”, the Reuters Institute in Singapore in Singapore, Michel Chambon, researcher at the Reuters Institute of Singapore Institute in the Catholic Church, told the Reuters Reuters Institute in Singapore Institute.
In September 2018, Pope Francis recognized seven bishops appointed by China. The Vatican also posthumously recognized an eighth bishop who died the previous year.
China first broke diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1951, and many Catholics were forced to put themselves underground during the reign of the former communist chief Mao Zedong, emerging until the 1980s when religious practices were tolerated again.
