www.catholicnews.sg SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2011
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PPS 201/04/2012 (022727)
China ordination gets Vatican, govt approval
VOL 61
NO. 25
INSIDE HOME Learning about Church the fun way
However, presence of excommunicated priest at ceremony creates problems
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YIBIN, CHINA – A Chinese priest
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was recently ordained bishop with the approval of both the Vatican and the Chinese government. However, the participation of an excommunicated priest at the ceremony drew sharp criticism from the Vatican. Fr Peter Luo Xuegang was ordained coadjutor bishop of Yibin diocese in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Nov 30. 3ROLFH RIÂżFHUV ZLWK WKHLU GRJV monitored the crowd at St Mary’s Church, and no phones, cameras or liquids were allowed in the venue, reported the Asian Church news agency UCA News. Participants had to arrive three hours before the ordination began to be security screened. Bishop Luo’s ordination had the approval of the Holy See. However, excommunicated Fr Paul Lei Shiyin of Leshan, wearing bishop’s garb despite his excommunication earlier this year when he was ordained without papal approval, was among the four other Vatican-approved consecrating bishops. This despite a Vatican spokesman conveying the wish that “no illegitimate bishop will participateâ€? in the ceremony. At the Vatican, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, papal spokesman, called the ordination “positiveâ€?. However, he said Fr Lei’s presence at the ceremony and the “repeated nature of his disobedience to the norms of the Church unfortunately aggravates his canonical positionâ€?. “In ordinary situations, the presence of the Bishop Lei Shiyin should have been absolutely excluded and would bring canonical consequences for the other par-
Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi called the ordination of Bishop Peter Luo Xuegang ‘positive’. Fr Lombardi noted that the presence of an excommunicated priest at the event and the ‘repeated nature of his disobedience... aggravates his canonical position’. CNS Âżle photo
Fr Peter Luo Xuegang was ordained coadjutor bishop of Yibin diocese. 8C$N(:S.C20 Âżle photo
Excommunicated Fr Paul Lei Shiyin was among the consecrating bishops. 8C$N(:S.C20 Âżle photo
ticipating bishops,â€? Fr Lombardi said. “In the current circumstances, it is probable that the latter [the participating bishops] were not able to prevent him without seriRXV GLIÂżFXOWLHV ,Q DQ\ FDVH WKH Holy See will be able to better evaluate the question when it re-
ceives more ample and complete information.� Bishop Luo, 47, is the third bishop ordained with both papal approval and government recognition this year. In recent years, many ordinations have followed the pattern of bishop candidates being elected
by diocesan representatives, then being approved separately by the government-approved Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China and the Holy See. During the Nov 30 ceremony, Bishop John Chen Shizhong of Yibin, 95, presided over the ordination, which was attended by 61 priests, 35 nuns, 800 lay CathoOLFV JRYHUQPHQW RI¿FLDOV DQG UHSresentatives of other religions. Bishop Luo and Fr Lei were ordained priests together in Leshan 20 years ago. Bishop Luo was loaned to Yibin diocese in 2009 and was elected the bishop candidate. He received the papal mandate last year. $Q RI¿FLDO RI WKH JRYHUQPHQW approved Church authority in China said in April that 11 dioceses have elected their bishop candidates and await the approval of the bishops’ conference. +RZHYHU RQO\ ¿YH HSLVFRSDO ordinations have taken place so far, including Fr Lei’s and one other held without papal mandate earlier in the year. „ CNS „ Page 15: A gauge of ChinaVatican ties
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