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Non-Vatican approved Chinese bishop ordains nine priests

Ordinations have aroused anger and criticism from Catholics in China who are fiercely loyal to the Vatican
Non-Vatican approved Chinese bishop ordains nine priests

Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming who is not yet recognized by the Vatican ordains a priest May 24 at the Sacred Heart Church in Honghe. May 24 is also the World Prayer Day for the Catholic Church in China. (ucanews.com photo)

Published: May 27, 2016 11:41 AM GMT

A Chinese bishop consecrated without papal authority has ordained nine priests on May 24, the World Prayer Day for the Catholic Church of China.

Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming, head of the government-sanctioned bishop's conference that is not recognized by the Vatican, ordained the priests at the Sacred Heart Church in Honghe, a prefecture of southwestern Yunnan province.

Chinese authorities have halted the ordination of new bishop's not recognized by the Vatican since 2012, but it has allowed existing non-Vatican approved bishops to ordain more new priests, citing pastoral needs.

Bishop Ma ordained a total of 10 priests in 2008, 2012 and on March 19, 2013, the same day Pope Francis was inaugurated as pope. Two excommunicated bishops also ordained eight priests since 2012. 

In the past decades, the Vatican has recognized deacons and priests ordained by non-Vatican approved bishops under "special faculties," which were granted to address particular pastoral necessities in China.

But now the Code of Canon Law should be observed, a canon lawyer said.

Pope Benedict XVI revoked all special faculties and conditions in his 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics.

The letter also designated the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians as the special day of prayer for the China Church.

Analysts regard the letter as a watershed that ended the practices and a guideline to achieve communion between the government-recognized "open" community and the "underground" community, loyal only to the Vatican which is regarded as illegal by the government.

Ordinations by non-Vatican approved bishops have aroused anger and criticism from Catholics who are fiercely loyal to the Vatican, seeing these events as sacrilegious acts that split the church. Observers also warned about consequences of the problematic ordinations, including validity of the sacraments administered by these priests. 

 

Priests concelebrating Mass for the ordination bless the newly ordained nine priests May 24 at the Sacred Heart Church in Honghe. (ucanews.com photo)

 

Observers believe that Bishop Ma's aim in presiding over the May 24 ordination was "to increase his bargaining chip to pressure the Vatican to recognize him. But it is a great harm to the unity of the China Church," said a Catholic blogger who goes by the name "Home of Salt and Light."

Exonerating bishops not approved by the Vatican is one of the thorny issues to be studied by a newly formed working group between China and the Vatican.

A Chinese researcher told ucanews.com that he anticipated Bishop Ma would be one of the candidates that the Vatican would like to pardon, as he plays a key role in the bishops' conference.

However, many Catholics have expressed their reservations on social media. "Doing this to seek pardon from the Holy See? Isn't it like beating Jesus with a whip while telling him I am wrong? Can this be called repentance?" asked blogger Xu Yaying.

The new priests are all from ethnic minorities in Yunnan, where 25 ethnic groups account for 38 percent of the 46 million population. Two of them come from Dali Diocese while the rest belong to Kunming. Yunnan is home to an estimated 150,000 Catholics spread among Dali and Kunming dioceses .

Though Bishop Ma himself has been ordained without Vatican approval, he incurs automatic excommunication according to canon law, a church source told ucanews.com.

However, some of the new priests think it is acceptable to be ordained by Bishop Ma as the Vatican has not officially declared him to have been excommunicated, the source said, adding that these priests have also been relying on Bishop Ma for a livelihood.

"A few seminarians evaded the ordination once they learned that it would be presided over by the non-Vatican approved bishop. As they do not belong to Kunming Diocese, they want to be ordained by a Vatican-approved bishop instead," the source said.

There are also priests who are "compromised with helplessness," a priest who identified himself as Father Joseph told ucanews.com. "They received their formation for many years and hence don't want to give up," he said.

"Media may interpret the event on this date (May 24) as a confrontational gesture since there are so many twists and turns to China-Vatican relations. But the priests may just want to be ordained on a feast day related to the Blessed Mother," Father Joseph said.

 

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