愛污传媒

Skip to main content

Pope names 3 Chinese bishops in a week and reorganizes diocese under a controversial 2018 accord

Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Share
ROME -

Pope Francis on Wednesday announced the nomination of a new Chinese bishop, the third in less than a week, in an apparent sign that a controversial 2018 accord with Beijing governing the nomination of Chinese bishops is working.

Bishop Peter Wu Yishun was consecrated bishop of Minbei in Fujian in southeast China, the Vatican said in a statement. It noted that Francis had named him bishop on Dec. 6.

On Monday, the Vatican announced a new bishop for Weifang and said Francis had reorganized the church territory and erected a new diocese there to conform with China's geographic delineation of the area. Bishop Anthony Sun Wenjun had been named last April but was actually consecrated Monday, the Vatican said.

The Vatican said Francis made the decision to redraw Weifang's borders "with the desire to promote the pastoral care of the Lord's flock, and to attend better to its spiritual welfare." It noted that the previous territory, called an apostolic prefecture, had been erected in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.

On Jan. 25, the Vatican announced the consecration of the new bishop of Zhengzhou, Tadeus Wang Yuesheng.

The Vatican said all nominations took place "within the framework" of the 2018 Vatican-China accord.

The 2018 deal, which has been renewed twice, aimed to unite China's estimated 12 million Catholics, who have been divided between an official church and an underground church loyal to Rome. The underground church emerged when the Communists came to power and diplomatic relations between the Holy See and China ruptured.

Francis has said he has final say in the bishop appointment process, but Beijing last year made a handful of unilateral bishop appointments without papal consent, amid a broader crackdown by President Xi Jinping on religious freedoms.

The Vatican gave in and recognized the appointments after the fact.

The terms of the 2018 deal were never released, and Francis' critics have blasted it as a sellout of those Chinese Catholics who remained loyal to the Vatican and suffered bouts of persecution. The Vatican has previously acknowledged that the 2018 accord was far from ideal but that it was the best deal it could get.

Beijing has long insisted that it must approve such appointments as a matter of its national sovereignty. The Vatican has insisted on the pope's divine authority to choose the successors of Christ's apostles.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

The victim of a violent robbery in Thornhill says he had $100,000 to $110,000 stolen from him after being boxed in his car.

The superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) has apologized over a message displayed during a professional development day on Wednesday.

Local Spotlight

Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.

Saskatchewan鈥檚 Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.

A B.C. couple is getting desperate 鈥 and creative 鈥 in their search for their missing dog.

Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.

A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.

Bernie Hicks, known as the 鈥楤atman of Amherst,鈥 always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.

Bubi鈥檚 Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.