Rome Newsroom, Oct 6, 2020 / 11:00 am
Ahead of the expected renewal of the Vatican-China deal this month, the former underground bishop of Mindong has announced his complete resignation from public life.
Bishop Guo Xijin, 62, wrote in a letter published by Asia News Oct. 5 explaining that he was retiring to concentrate on prayer because he does not "want to become an obstacle to progress."
Guo was an underground bishop who previously agreed to become an auxiliary bishop so that state-appointed Bishop Zhan Silu would be recognized by the Vatican as the bishop of Mindong in China's coastal Fujian province in December 2018 at the request of Pope Francis.
But Bishop Guo did not obtain formal recognition from the Chinese government after stepping aside because he refused Beijing's demand that he register with the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.