Bishop Jin Yangke was secretly ordained by a Vatican-appointed bishop eight years ago
Bishops and priests pose for a
photograph after the installation of Bishop Jin Yangke of Ningbo Diocese
in Zhejiang province on Aug. 18. (Photo supplied)
The state-sanctioned Catholic Church in China has installed another
bishop in a tightly controlled ceremony, making him the sixth bishop
installed since the Vatican and China signed a pact on
bishops' appointments two years ago.Officials of the Chinese
Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and Bishops' Conference of
Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) led the installation ceremony of Bishop
Jin Yangke of Ningbo Diocese in Zhejiang province in eastern China on
Aug. 18. "The ceremony was very strictly controlled, with only
priests, nuns, officials and relatives of the bishop inside," said a
Catholic who waited outside the church.About 150 people were allowed to attend the ceremony, including some 30 priests and 30 nuns.Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming, chairman of the BCCCC and vice-chairman of the CCPA, led the ceremony.
The installation of 62-year-old Bishop Jin is believed to be
the result of negotiations since the Vatican-China pact was signed in
September 2018.Bishop Jin belonged to the state-approved open
church but his predecessor Bishop Mathew Hu Xiande, a Vatican-appointed
bishop, ordained him secretly as coadjutor bishop in 2012.Bishop
Hu held the ordination in secret because he did not want the ordination
to be "contaminated" by the presence of any "illegal" bishops, a church
source told UCA News.When Bishop Hu died in 2017, Bishop Jin took
over the diocese and continued as its bishop, although he was not
publicly ordained or installed as a bishop.The latest
installation makes Bishop Jin the head of Ningbo Diocese, approved by
the Chinese state and the Vatican, the source said. A church
observer told UCA News that three different types of bishops have been
installed publicly since the agreement was signed.In the first group, underground bishops were installed as bishops of the open church after approval by authorities.The
second group comprised underground priests who turned to the open
church and were later secretly ordained with Vatican approval. The third group were open church priests who were ordained secretly as bishops with the Vatican's mandate.
Bishop Jin's case is an example of the third category. He was already a
priest and bishop of the open church, heading a diocese without any
public ordination or installation. The latest ceremony validates his
position, the observer said. The church observer said all three
categories have something in common: "They were all secretly appointed
and ordained with a Vatican mandate before the agreement."At the ceremony, Bishop Jin's letter of approval was read out by Father Yang Yu, deputy secretary-general of the BCCCC and CCPA.Bishop
Jin made a solemn vow to lead the diocese to abide by China's
constitution, uphold the unity of the motherland and social harmony, and
love the country and the Church.He also vowed to insist on the
Church’s autonomy, adhere to the direction of Chinese Catholicism in
China, and contribute to the realization of the "Chinese dream of the
great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."Born in 1958, Bishop
Jin graduated from the Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai and has served the
Diocese of Ningbo since his priestly ordination in 1990.He was
appointed vice director of the Church Affairs Committee of
Zhejiang province in 2014 and director of the CCPA of Ningbo three years
later.
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