The Chinese Catholic society is speeding up the process of
selection and ordination of young bishops to better serve millions
of followers in the country, a top Catholic leader has said.
Liu Bainian, vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association, said posts need to be filled to serve dioceses without
bishops for a long time or replace older bishops in some
dioceses.
There are 97 dioceses on the Chinese mainland, of which 40 do
not have bishops.
"Many of the current bishops are old, with 30 of them above 80,"
Liu told China Daily.
"We are in dire need of bishops."
Chinese Catholics have been adhering to the principle of
independent selection and ordination of bishops since 1958, when
they cut economic and political relations with the Vatican.
About 110 have been ordained since 1979, most of them older
bishops.
"The practice of ordaining young bishops only started in the
late 1990s," Liu said.
Of the current 70 bishops, about half are around 40.
"We are quite slow in selecting young bishops because it takes
time for young priests to become mature, be well trained and gain
pastoral experience," Liu said.
"With more young priests gaining more religious knowledge and
pastoral experience, we will certainly hasten the ordination of
more young bishops," Liu said.
According to Liu, the key factor hindering an improvement in
ties with the Vatican lies in what kind of bishops are to be
selected.
"While Chinese Catholics want to select those with good
religious knowledge and love toward the country and the people, the
Vatican wants those who oppose the Communist Party (of China)," he
said.
He went on to say that the Chinese Catholics cannot wait for the
normalization of bilateral ties to nominate bishops.
The association has received proposals for the approval of
bishops from six dioceses this year - from Guizhou, Guangzhou,
Yichang, Beijing, Ningxia and Hohhot.
The Chinese Catholic Bishops College is still considering some
of the proposals as "a review of their qualifications takes
time".
There are about 5 million Catholic followers nationwide.
(China Daily September 6, 2007)