VATICAN CITY (CNS): The ordination of two Chinese bishops without papal approval seriously wounds the unity of the Church, and the pressure put on bishops and priests to participate is a violation of religious freedom, the Vatican said.
Pope Benedict XVI was “profoundly displeased” to learn of the May 3 ordination of Bishop Joseph Liu Xinhong of Anhui and the April 30 ordination of Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming, said the Pope’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
His May 4 statement said the Pope was upset that such an important event in the life of the Church was carried out “in both cases without respect for the need for communion with the Pope”.
Ordaining new bishops without papal approval seriously harms the unity of the Church, which can lead to “severe canonical sanctions”, Mr Navarro-Valls said.
The spokesman referred specifically to Canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law: “A bishop who consecrates someone a bishop without a pontifical mandate and the person who receives the consecration from him incur a ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See”.
However, Mr Navarro-Valls also noted that the Vatican had received information that “bishops and priests were placed under strong pressure and threats” to participate in the ordinations, which lacking papal approval were “illegitimate and, in addition, contrary to their consciences”.
Canon 1323 lists people who are not subject to penalties, including “a person who acted coerced by grave fear, even if only relatively grave”.
Meanwhile, Catholics in north-eastern China’s Liaoning diocese gathered on May 7 for the ordination of a young bishop approved by the Pope as well as the Chinese Government.
