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Vatican-Approved Bishop of Beijing is Appointed

DW StaffSeptember 21, 2007

In Beijing, China's state-controlled Catholic Church has appointed a bishop for the city, who has also been approved by the Vatican. Experts say the appointment will ease relations between China and the Vatican, which have been tense ever since the Vatican's recognition of Taiwan in 1951. In the same year, the Chinese state established its own branch of the Catholic Church.

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A typical Catholic church in China
A typical Catholic church in ChinaImage: AP

At Beijing’s 400-year-old Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Joseph Li Shan took the oath as the city's new bishop. The ceremony was attended by several hundred priests, nuns, and officials, as well as thousands of ordinary Chinese Catholics.

During the ceremony, the 42-year-old Li promised to lead the city’s faithful and to protect the unity of state by adhering to the nation's constitution. He replaces Bishop Fu Tieshan, who died in April this year.

But many say that, more than the ceremony, what was important was that Li got the nod from the Vatican -- something unprecedented according to Stefan von Kempers from Radio Vatican:

"As far as I know the Vatican quite evidently approved a list on which the new Bishop of Beijing’s name was mentioned. Moreover in summer this year, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, said in a press conference that the new bishop was a 'good and well-suited' candidate, which again hinted at the Vatican’s approval."

Complicated relations

The ties between China and the Vatican suffered a serious blow in 1951 when Beijing was angered by the Vatican’s recognition of Taiwan. Since then, the Chinese Catholic Church has split. An estimated five million members belong to the state-run Church and about ten million belong to the underground Church, which remained loyal to the Vatican.

The state-approved Church recognises the Pope as a spiritual figurehead but rejects papal control and refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops, saying this would entail interference in its internal affairs.

New dialogue

But in recent months, the ties between the Vatican and Beijing seem to have warmed up. Radio Vatican’s Stefan von Kempers said Li's appointment is one example of the rapprochement:

"This year in June, the Pope sent a letter to the bishops of China calling for dialogue with the Chinese authorities and for religious freedom for China's Catholic minority. Earlier this month, the ordination of one of the assistant bishops in the south also received the thumbs-up from the Vatican. So it seems a lot is going on behind the scenes."

And as the countdown for the 2008 Olympics is on, and the pressure on China to improve its human rights record is mounting, many say it will try to thaw its ties with the Vatican even further.