Catholic Bishop in China Resigns

[rug]

July 10, 2012, 10:58 a.m. ET
By CARLOS TEJADA AND PAUL MOZUR

BEIJING—The surprise resignation of a Catholic auxiliary bishop from China's state-sanctioned church over the weekend could increase tensions between Beijing and the Vatican, which have long wrestled with who should lead the nation's estimated nine million Catholics.

Bishop Ma Daqin, also known as Thaddeus Ma, told his congregation on Saturday that he resigned from the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the state-approved organization that requires membership from Catholic clergy in mainland China. He had been ordained as a bishop that same day by the association but had also won approval from Catholic leaders in the Vatican.

After you take up the ministry and become auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, there's a lot going on," Bishop Ma told the congregation, according to a video of the service posted online.

"Heart and mind should be completely devoted to ministering and spreading the Good Word. Some posts are not convenient to continue to hold. So, from this day, this time of holy celebration, it is no longer convenient for me to continue to be a member of the Patriotic Association."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303292204577518553244967064.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

What's this all about?

[demosincebirth]

1. It's tough being a Catholic in China.

[rug]

2. You're right.

Here's a good article about that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/world/asia/in-china-tensions-between-church-and-government.html?pagewanted=all

[hedgehog]

3. i think this conflict pin points one more problem

from a Church model that sees the pope as head rather than as first among equals. I think we need a clearinghouse or message center; someplace where we all meet and share. What we don't need is a central office of bureaucrats dictating items that can be handled locally. When Rome and Beijing argue over who appoints the bishops, the people suffer.