Vatican responds to Bishop Ma's Revocation

(Dec.12, 2012) In China, the government-sanctioned Catholic bishops' conference has revoked Shanghai Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin's appointment, church sources told UCA News on Tuesday. At his ordination July 7, the Vatican-approved bishop became the first to publicly quit the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, saying he wanted to devote himself to his ministry. Since then, Bishop Ma has been in "retreat" at the Sheshan Regional Seminary in a Shanghai suburb.
The Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China, which is not recognized by the Vatican, has also decreed that "a pledge of loyalty is required at all episcopal ordinations in future," according to a source in Shanghai who requested anonymity. However, the source did not say to whom future bishops should pledge loyalty. The source also said that, although no formal announcement has been made, the diocese has suspended Bishop Ma's priesthood ministry for two years, removed him as the dean of Pudong deanery and as a parish priest.
Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said, "At this moment, the Holy See does not have any information, other than that which appears in the media. In any case, the position of the Holy See on this matter was authoritatively expressed a short time ago in a long article by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Tripod magazine. Fr. Lombardi quoted a section of Cardinal Filoni's article, which said the situation of Catholics in China "remains serious. Some bishops and priests have been segregated and deprived of their liberties, as the case of (Auxiliary) Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai has clearly demonstrated. He announced his desire to dedicate himself to full-time pastoral ministry, setting aside tasks that, among other things, were not in the competence of a pastor.
UCA News reported that, according to sources, Bishop Ma can meet people and update his blog occasionally during his "retreat." However, he has not been allowed to concelebrate with other priests at the seminary since Dec. 4, sources said. The Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China is strongly linked to the Catholic Patriotic Association at the national level. The national president of the patriotic association serves as a vice president of the conference, and vice versa.