China Pushes Bishop Elections During Papal Vacancy
(Shanghai – April 30, 2025) At a sensitive time when Roman cardinals are gathering to elect a new pope, China’s official Catholic Church institutions are disregarding the Universal Church’s mourning period by forcefully advancing controversial bishop elections, openly challenging the Sino-Vatican bishop appointment agreement. Sources told AsiaNews that under official pressure, the Diocese of Shanghai convened priests on April 28 to “confirm” pro-government Father Wu Jianlin as auxiliary bishop.
Despite some opposition, Wu was successfully elected. The following day, April 29, a similar event occurred in the Diocese of Xinxiang, Henan Province, where the sole candidate, Father Li Jianlin, well known for his pro-government stance, was elected.
Undermining the Bishop Appointment Agreement
Although the Vatican and China have reached an agreement on bishop appointments, the process remains dominated by state-controlled institutions that submit only one candidate to the Holy See. It is believed that these two elections may have been arranged before Pope Francis’s passing, but Beijing still chose to proceed during this sensitive time in the absence of a pope, drawing widespread attention.
These two elections once again reveal the true nature of the Chinese official church as being under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. The nominal papal authority over appointments under the “Sino-Vatican agreement” is essentially meaningless. The Beijing authorities are using the vacancy of the papal seat to accelerate their “Patriotic Church” agenda in an attempt to further consolidate control over Catholicism in China.
The Shanghai Diocese Power Struggle
The situation in Shanghai is especially absurd. The current bishop, Joseph Shen Bin, is the president of the group called the Council of Chinese Bishops, unrecognized by the Holy See. He is now attempting to install the pro-government Father Wu Jianlin to further marginalize the legitimate bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, who remains under house arrest. The diocese also has another bishop, Joseph Xing Wenzhi, who resigned in name only. The Vatican’s decision in 2023 to retroactively approve Joseph Shen Bin’s appointment has clearly failed to curb Beijing’s encroachment on the Shanghai diocese.
Xinxiang’s Deep Divide: Underground Church vs. State-Backed Leadership
The election in Xinxiang is also tricky. This diocese has an underground bishop, Joseph Zhang Weizhu, who was secretly consecrated in 1991. He is a legitimate bishop but was arrested multiple times for carrying out his pastoral duties. In contrast, the government-backed Father Li Jianlin publicly supported the Henan provincial ban on minors attending Mass in 2018, making his pro-government stance and opposition to the underground Church apparent.
Persecution, Absence, and a Blatant Challenge to the Universal Church
These two elections are clearly a blatant provocation by the Chinese authorities toward the soon-to-be-elected new pope. Beijing is testing the Vatican’s limits and attempting to boast about and showcase its total control over Catholicism in China to the universal church.
China’s official Church did not send a delegation to attend Pope Francis’s funeral and even deleted a brief condolence message from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association’s website, replacing it with content promoting its cooperation with the Communist Party. Meanwhile, many Chinese Catholics and bishops who mourned the pope on personal social media accounts have faced official pressure.
The crackdown in the Wenzhou Diocese in Zhejiang continues. Legitimate bishop Peter Shao Zhumin was illegally detained before Easter (on April 10) and his whereabouts remains unknown. Local police have even banned priests from holding memorial Masses. These acts clearly demonstrate the Chinese authorities’ blatant violation of religious freedom.
The actions of China’s official Church are not only an open mockery of the Sino-Vatican agreement but also a blatant mockery of the universal Church. How the new pope will respond to this challenge will directly affect the future of Catholicism in China.
(Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai of ChinaAid)
