Vatican City, Jun 7, 2011 / 10:35 am
The proposed ordination of a Chinese bishop without Vatican approval has been postponed at the last minute. The decision comes only two days before the ordination was scheduled to take place.
“Reports from China have just come through saying that the ordination of Father Shen Guoan as Bishop of Hankou has been postponed to an ‘unspecified date,’” John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need told CNA on June 7.
“If these reports are true – and we have no reason to doubt them – it will come as a major relief to the Vatican.”
The ordination of Fr. Guoan, 50, was set to take place at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hankou on Thursday, June 9. Chinese government authorities were planning on making him a bishop despite having no approval from the Vatican and protests being raised by local Catholics. It’s even been suggested that Fr. Guoan himself was strongly opposed to the idea.