After reaching an agreement with the Catholic Church, the first Chinese Catholic bishop has been ordained with the joint approval of the Pope and Beijing with intention to encourage a rapprochement between China and the Holy See.
Yao Shun was ordained as bishop of the diocese of Ulanqab in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday. The ceremony was attended by 100 priests and 1,200 Catholics, the mandate of Pope Francis was mentioned during the ceremony.
For decades, China's roughly 12 million Catholics had been split between a government-run association, whose clergy were chosen by the atheist Communist Party, and an unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
But under the terms of the deal agreed in September last year, both Beijing and the Vatican will now have a say in appointing Catholic bishops. The law in China requires priests and bishops to register and align with the country's official church.
According to Bishop Shen Bing, the ordinance being a successful example of relevant formalities and procedures, is a good start for China to elect and ordain more bishops.
It said the ordination was the "first to take place in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China", which severed diplomatic relations in 1951.
According to a report in the state-run Global Times on Wednesday, China faces a shortage of bishops, with around a third of the 98 dioceses having no bishops and many older bishops set to retire.
Pope Francis recognised seven clergy appointed by China as part of the deal, despite fears the accord would be used by Beijing to further crack down on worshippers outside the official church.
Sisci. Benoit Vermander, a professor of religious studies at Fudan University in Shanghai said, "In the future, patience, dialogue and mutual trust will continue to be needed in selecting excellent pastors for the Church, which will prove to be beneficial for Chinese society."
Hong Kong's outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen said at the time that the deal was "a major step toward the annihilation of the real Church in China".
As China's Catholic population grows and the Vatican intensifies efforts to restore relations, tensions remain, though ties have improved.
China, in recent years also saw a clampdown on religious worship on multiple fronts, with churches destroyed in some regions and restrictions on the sale of Bibles.
