VATICAN CITY (CNS): Chinese Father Joseph Yue Fusheng has been automatically excommunicated for allowing himself to be illicitly ordained a bishop despite repeated warnings from the Vatican.
“The Holy See does not recognise him as bishop of the apostolic administration of Harbin, and he lacks the authority to govern the priests and the Catholic community in the province of Heilongjiang,” the Vatican said in a written statement on July 10.
It also praised the licit ordination of the new auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, who reportedly was taken away by authorities after his July 7 ordination and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, Auxiliary for Shanghai, has been restricted by the Government after saying he would give up his role in the Government-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.
In recent years, because of Government requirements, the priests, nuns and lay people of Chinese dioceses have elected their new bishops, and most of those elected have applied to the Holy See for approval.
When such approval was given, it often was announced at the episcopal ordination.
Fr Yue was ordained bishop of Harbin on July 6 without papal mandate.
Five Vatican-approved bishops took part in the rite, held at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province.
The Vatican said those bishops who took part in the July 6 ordination had “exposed themselves to the sanctions laid down by the law of the Church”, which entailed automatic excommunication.
Bishops’ ordinations that were not authorised by the pope generally brought the penalty of automatic excommunication; however, because in some cases there may be mitigating circumstances – including fear of reprisal, necessity or serious inconvenience – those bishops in attendance “must give an account to the Holy See of their participation in that religious ceremony”, it said.
Fr Yue automatically incurred the penalty of excommunication because he “had been informed some time ago that he could not be approved by the Holy See as an episcopal candidate, and on several occasions he had been asked not to accept episcopal ordination without the pontifical mandate”, it said.
On July 3, the Vatican issued a strongly worded statement warning Chinese authorities the ordination of Fr Yue violated Church law, jeopardised the future of the Catholic Church in China and would incur the automatic excommunication of any prelates taking part in the rite.
The State Administration for Religious Affairs responded on July 4, calling the warnings “outrageous and shocking” and saying self-election and self-ordination would continue despite the Vatican’s position on the matter.
The Vatican said on July 10 that it was still committed to dialogue with Chinese authorities but warned against continued illicit celebrations and episcopal ordinations without papal approval, saying such acts not only harmed dialogue but also “cause division and bring suffering to the Catholic communities in China and the universal Church”.
“All Catholics in China, pastors, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful, are called to defend and safeguard that which pertains to the doctrine and tradition of the Church,” the Vatican said.
Local Church sources who attended Bishop Ma’s ordination told the Asian church news agency UCA News that he was led away soon after the ceremony by an unidentified group of people and has since been prohibited from assuming the duties of his office.
The bishop did not show up for his first Mass at St Ignatius Cathedral after telling the congregation at his ordination that he would step down from the local and national offices of the Catholic Patriotic Association to devote himself entirely to his ministry.
Bishop Ma is the first Government-approved bishop in recent years to announce publicly that he would give up his duties with the Catholic Patriotic Association, UCA News reported.
Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to Catholics in China stated that the aim of the patriotic association in upholding the independence of the Church in China was incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
