Pope Benedict XVI’s sorrow over illicit Episcopal ordinations in China
An event that is being followed “with sorrow and concern” because it is contrary to
“the unity of the Universal Church”: this is how the Director of the Vatican Press
Office, Father Federico Lombardi, commented on the news that Father Joseph Huang Bingzhang
had been illicitly ordained bishop in Shantou, China. A number of bishops, who are
in communion with the Pope, were obliged to participate in the ceremony.
With
the illicit ordination of the bishop of Shantou, in China’s Guandong province, a new
wound has been inflicted on the Catholic Church in China. Two weeks ago, the Church
was faced with the ordination of the bishop of Leshan, celebrated in the absence of
a Pontifical mandate. Reports say that a number of priests who are in communion with
the Pope were pressured to take part in today’s ordination ceremony, despite their
previous refusal to do so. The event renews the deep sorrow felt by Benedict XVI when
he learnt of last month’s Episcopal ordination in Leshan. On that occasion, the Holy
See expressed disappointment and concern, recalling that, in a declaration published
on July 4, a bishop who has been ordained “without Pontifical mandate, and therefore
illegitimately, lacks the authority to lead the diocesan Catholic community”. For
that reason, “the Holy See does not recognize” him as bishop of the diocese entrusted
to his responsibility.
An illegitimately ordained priest, together with all
the consecrating bishops, risks excommunication by “latae sententiae” for violation
of norm 1382 of the Code of Canon Law. In fact, the Holy See’s declaration affirms
that “an Episcopal ordination in absence of Pontifical mandate is directly opposed
to the spiritual role of the Holy Father and damages the unity of the Church”. It
is an act that “produces divisions and tensions in the Catholic community in China”.
“The survival and the growth of the Church” – according to the declaration – “can
only take place in union with him to whom the Church itself is entrusted and not without
his consent”. “If the Church in China is to be Catholic, then the doctrine and the
discipline of the Church must be respected”. The Vatican document ends by expressing
Benedict XVI’s desire to “send a message of encouragement and hope to the beloved
faithful in China, inviting them to pray and to remain united”. Listen: