Bishop Jin, originally named a bishop by the government-approved Patriotic Association but reconciled with the Holy See in 2005, frequently straddled the gap between "underground" and "official" Catholics.

Last year Bishop Thaddeus Ma Dagin was ordained an auxiliary and designated as Bishop Jin's successor, but when he repudiated his membership in the Patriotic Association he was placed under house arrest.

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Bishop Ma has been under house arrest since he publicly resigned from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association at his ordination in July and said he would devote himself full-time to his pastoral ministry.

At a two-day meeting in Beijing, the patriotic association and the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China — neither of which are recognised by the Vatican — decided to revoke their original approval of Bishop Ma.

They called on Shanghai diocese to "deal with Ma in a serious manner".

Among the six "charges" laid against the bishop, they accused him of deliberately preventing an illegitimate bishop and two other participating bishops from laying hands on his head and forbidding them from receiving Communion.

They also charged him with not publicly distinguishing whether he is coadjutor or auxiliary bishop, a title given by the Pope, and that the oath was incomplete as a result of deliberate damage to the sound system, sources told UCA News.

In addition, they blamed him for the absence of many diocesan priests and nuns at the ordination and determined the declaration he made in his thanksgiving speech would have a damaging influence on others.

The secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-fai, who is a native of Hong Kong, said: "This is a clear case of abuse of authority."

"This so-called bishops' conference has never been recognised by the Holy See. No conference in the world has the power to appoint or remove a bishop, least of all this so-called conference, which is not recognised by the Pope," he said.

"Anyone involved in this act will have to explain why they have decided to cause such harm to the Church and the communion of the Church, both in China and in the world."

Sources:

UCA News

AsiaNews

Image: UCA News

Coadjutor Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, the head of Shanghai's "open" church, issued a notice to Sheshan Major Seminary and Tailaiqiao Minor Seminary stating classes had been delayed "until further notice". The notice simply said the decision was due to the "current situation".

Of the two Shanghai seminaries, the regional seminary of Sheshan accepts seminarians from the five nearby provinces that make up the central eastern region of China as well as from Shanghai, a self-administered municipality.

The notice came a few days after the state-sponsored church removed Sister Agnes Liu Shujing from her post as superior general of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Presentation. She had delayed in passing on the Patriotic Association's order that all sisters had to attend the ordination ceremony, because she knew an illicit bishop would be present.

Bishop Ma was ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai on July 7, with the approval of the Holy See. Immediately after the ordination, the 45-year-old bishop was placed under house arrest at the Sheshan seminary.

Bishop Ma is still in confinement and not permitted to wear bishop's garb or exercise his episcopal ministry. "He looked pale and thin," said a source who saw him recently.

Government officials have questioned more than 100 diocesan priests and nuns who were absent from the ordination. They were asked about their reasons for not attending and their opinions on the ordination and Bishop Ma's speech in which he resigned from the Patriotic Association.

One bishop told AsiaNews: "What is happening in Chinese society is also happening in the Catholic Church: the government has lost control of the masses and the people's trust. The faithful no longer pay any attention to the Patriotic Association, it no longer counts."

Sources:

UCA News

Asia News

Image: UCA News

Local Church sources said Bishop Ma of Shanghai was taken away by several unidentified persons shortly after his ordination last Saturday and is now at a diocesan seminary in Shenshan, on the outskirts of Shanghai.

His absence from a scheduled Sunday Mass the following day caused grief among parishioners, with Father Joseph Gu Zhangjun visibly upset as he presided in his stead.

Sources cited by UCANews said it was widely understood that authorities were displeased by Bishop Ma's speech during his ordination, in which he said he would step down from the government-sanctioned local CPA and give up his membership in the national body to devote himself entirely to his ministry.

Priests and nuns of the Shanghai diocese had received a text message purportedly from Bishop Ma, saying he felt "mentally and physically exhausted" after his ordination and "need a break".

But Or Yan-yan, an officer with the Justice and Peace Commission in Hong Kong, said there were serious doubts about the authenticity of the message.

"It makes no sense for him to have rushed to a retreat without presiding over his first Mass, which was scheduled," she said.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong joined a protest rally organised by the commission in front of the Central Government's liaison office in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile two government-sanctioned Church organisations announced an investigation into Bishop Ma's ordination.

The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops' Conferences of the Catholic Church in China said the ordination "allegedly violated seriously the BCCCC's regulations with regard to bishops' election and ordination".

A Church source added that the bishops who participated in the ordination have also been included in the investigation.

"Five participating bishops have been summoned to Beijing to give an account of it," the source said.

Source:

UCANews

Image: AsiaNews

"After today's ordination, I would devote every effort to episcopal ministry. It is inconvenient for me to serve the CPA post any more," Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai told the congregation at the ceremony.

About 1000 people in St Ignatius' Cathedral, Shanghai, responded with long and thunderous applause, reported UCANews.

Bishop Ma is the first "open" Chinese bishop in recent years to announce publicly during an episcopal ordination his intention to give up his offices in the CPA. He had been vice chair of the Shanghai CPA and a member of the standing committee of the national CPA.

"He needs to have much courage to speak these words as there are many government officials present. These words are not spoken to Catholics but to the officials," said one person who attended the ordination.

About 30 priests concelebrated the ordination Mass but most clergy in Shanghai's "open" Church community decided to follow their conscience and avoided concelebrating with an illicitly ordained bishop who was present, sources said.

That prelate, Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Mindong, did not lay hands on Bishop Ma, which came as a pleasant surprise to the priests who had avoided the ordination.

Meanwhile, the Vatican is considering its response to the illicit ordination of Father Joseph Yue Fusheng, also a CPA official, as bishop of Harbin city on July 6.

Five Vatican-approved bishops were reported to have taken part in the ceremony at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Harbin city, the capital of Heilongjiang province.

The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples had earlier warned those intending to participate that they faced automatic excommunication.

Sources:

UCANews

Catholic News Agency

Image: UCANews