Pope denounces appointments of bishops by China

Canon law requires excommunication in cases of ordination performed without consent.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
ROME -- In a sharp escalation of tensions between China and the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday repudiated the unauthorized appointment of two Chinese bishops and indicated they and the two prelates who ordained them could be excommunicated.
The actions by China's state-sanctioned church, and the scathing reactions here, undermined what had been a prolonged period of rapprochement between Beijing and the Vatican.
It also marked the most dramatic diplomatic moment yet for Benedict's year-old papacy.
The pope learned with "profound displeasure" of the ordinations in China earlier this week, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in an unusually tough statement. He said the consecrations represented a "grave violation of religious freedom" that has done serious harm to the unity of the Roman Catholic Church.
Navarro-Valls termed the unauthorized appointments "unacceptable acts of violence and inadmissible coercion." The so-called "patriotic" Catholic Church in China named as bishops Ma Yinglin in the southern city of Kunming on Sunday and Liu Xinhong in central Wuhu on Wednesday, neither with Vatican approval.
Matter of great dispute
Authority over the appointment of bishops has long remained a matter of great dispute in this religious power struggle.
Navarro-Valls said the two priests, as well as the two bishops who consecrated them, are subject to a provision of canon law that requires automatic excommunication in cases of ordination performed without papal consent, a severe and rarely enacted punishment.
However, the statement also noted that priests in China operate under "strong pressures and threats," a possible mitigating circumstance when excommunication is being considered. A final decision on disciplinary steps had not been taken.
Still, the controversy marked a significant setback in recent efforts to improve Sino-Vatican relations.
China and the Vatican cut ties in 1951, soon after the Communist Party came to power; the Asian giant's 10 million to 12 million Catholics are divided between the official church approved by the ruling party and an underground church loyal to Rome.
In the last year or more, however, there have been meetings between Chinese and Vatican officials and other overtures aimed at narrowing the differences. Tacit, quiet agreement was frequently reached on the naming of bishops, and Benedict's aides spoke of a possible papal trip to China.
While church officials in Rome expressed dismay over Beijing's decision to name bishops without Vatican approval, Chinese officials said they were merely trying to fill the many vacancies in the local clerical leadership and follow the will of Chinese worshippers.
Appointments defended
The Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the appointments and said Vatican criticism was misplaced.
Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association that oversees the pro-state churches, told the Italian news agency Ansa that he did not think the new appointments should derail broader normalization talks with the Vatican.
But Navarro-Valls, the papal spokesman, said the Vatican was alarmed by reports from China that as many as 20 additional bishops could be consecrated without papal blessing. Dialogue between Beijing and the Vatican is at risk, he said.