Vatican scolds Chinese priest for self-ordination

The Vatican warned the underground Catholic Church in China last week against ordaining bishops apart from the Holy See, as tensions rise over a proposed agreement between the Vatican and China’s communist leaders.

“The Holy See has not authorized any ordination, nor has it been officially informed of such events,” the church statement said. “Should such episcopal ordinations have occurred, they would constitute a grave violation of canonical norms.”

While the Vatican typically chastises the government-sanctioned Catholic Church, this time the message was geared toward the underground Church, made of up Catholics who have remained faithful to the pope. Many in the underground Church fear that as China-Vatican relations improve, the independent congregations will be forced to join the government’s Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA)—the very group many have faced persecution and even death to avoid.

The Vatican statement referred to unverified reports that Father Paul Dong Guanhua of Hebei announced during mass in May that he had been secretly ordained as a bishop 11 years ago, according to Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News. In September, he made his position public by donning a bishop’s headgear and holding a bishop’s staff. He then posted his cell phone number online, offering to ordain others interested in becoming bishops.

Because China was closed off from the rest of the world, the Vatican for a time granted special powers to the underground Church to ordain bishops. But in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI withdrew those rights because Chinese Catholics had greater access to the Vatican. He continued to allow individual dioceses to request special powers if the situation required, according to UCA News.

Underground Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, who is approved by the Vatican, announced Dong’s actions have led to his excommunication from the Church because only the pope has the power to ordain bishops. Other underground Catholics also dismissed the self-appointed bishop, with some even calling him a spy planted by the government to sow discord within the already-distressed Church.

Many in the underground Catholic Church feel abandoned as the Vatican continues to work toward reestablishing relations with China: Pope Francis is expected soon to pardon the eight CPCA bishops who have not yet received Vatican approval, and the two parties are drafting an agreement on how to choose future bishops. At the same time, the Vatican does not appoint successors when underground bishops die, and refuses to meet with underground Catholics when they visit Rome, according to AsiaNews. By contrast, groups from the official Church are able to meet with the pope and even take a group photo with him.

One underground priest said when he went to Rome to request a papal blessing for his bishop in Henan, who had faced severe persecution, he was turned away.

“My bishop has undergone persecution and faced difficulties to defend the faith and his loyalty to the pope in all these years,” the priest told AsiaNews. “Now they won’t even give a sign of support and encouragement to those who need it most. This makes us feel very lonely.”