Rome, Italy, Jul 12, 2011 / 11:25 am
The ordination of another Chinese bishop without papal approval would be a “new step backwards” in relations between China and the Vatican, says Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, the secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
“The government and Chinese politicians are convinced that the Church must be managed by the government,” the Hong Kong-born cleric told the Italian newspaper La Stampa on July 12.
Archbishop Hon Tai-Fai’s comments were made only two days before Father Joseph Huang Binzhuang is due to be illicitly ordained as the bishop of Shantou diocese in the southern province of Guangdong on Thursday July 14.
The ordination will be the third without papal approval in nine months. Each has been organized by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is run by Beijing and does not acknowledge the authority of the Pope.