By HOWARD W. FRENCH and IAN FISHER
Published: September 21, 2007
SHANGHAI, Sept. 20 — The selection of the Rev. Joseph Li Shan, who is to be installed as the new Catholic bishop of Beijing on Friday, was no surprise to those who closely follow religious affairs in this country.
Father Li, 42, has risen steadily through the Chinese Catholic clergy, which was decimated by the Cultural Revolution and has slowly rebuilt as the Chinese government has officially recognized some organized religions. He has been in the wings for some time.
Less certain has been how Beijing and the Vatican, whose relations have suffered numerous ups and downs, would come to terms over an appointment that for both parties involves ceding authority.
Neither in Beijing nor Rome is there any sense that the new bishop’s elevation to lead the capital’s most prominent parish was a fundamental breakthrough.
Instead, what has drawn notice and stirred optimism is the discreet way the matter has been handled, with no open disputes.
“This is good news, and it will pave the way for more interaction between the two sides in the future,” said Yan Kejia, a researcher at the Religion Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. “The Vatican’s attitude toward Li Shan’s appointment shows that the door is open, even if relations have not been normalized.”
The Rev. Bernardo Cevellera, editor of Asia News, agreed, saying, “This is a very good sign of starting a dialogue.” Asia News covers religious matters and has close ties to the Vatican.
The appointment of Father Li, who was the head of Beijing’s East Church and is a graduate of the Beijing Catholic Seminary, was the result of a delicate back and forth between China and the Vatican, the details of which neither side is eager to publicize or acknowledge. Both claim the authority to appoint bishops.
There were credible suggestions from analysts who follow Chinese religious affairs that Rome signaled the identities of Chinese Catholics with whom it was comfortable, and Beijing chose a new bishop from among them, but there was also the possibility that Beijing produced a list of candidates and the Vatican signaled its approval. Officials on neither side would say.
As recently as June 30, in a letter to the Chinese authorities, Pope Benedict XVI said the Vatican “would desire to be completely free to appoint bishops.”
Recently, though, the Vatican has quietly signaled that this ordination has its approval: Notably the church not spoken out against it, as has been the case in past ordinations without the pope’s consent. In July, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told reporters he considered Father Li a “very good, well-suited” candidate.
Liu Bainian, the vice chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a government-affiliated group that oversees the Chinese Catholic Church, said: “The Vatican has agreed with the results of our election of bishops before, and we thought those were moves in a good direction. How they see Li Shan is their business, but it is our hope they continue walking a good direction.”
China has a long history of suspicion toward foreign religious authority, fueled in part by what most Chinese see as their country’s subjugation by Western powers in the last two centuries.
Since the Communist revolution in 1949, the state has also maintained strict control over all rights of association.
The state, in effect, runs all the above-ground churches, as well as Buddhist temples, mosques and other recognized places of worship. China has also maintained tight political control over clerical appointments. Father Li, for example, is a representative in the Beijing People’s Congress, or local assembly.
As Chinese society has gradually liberalized, many among China’s officially estimated five million Catholics, as well as perhaps seven million underground Catholics by some estimates, have yearned for normalized relations with the Vatican and with Roman Catholics everywhere.
China, for its part, would like to see Rome drop its formal relations with Taiwan. The Vatican would like to promote greater religious freedom in China.
But bringing the two closer could have wider ramifications for other religions, both officially recognized and not. China’s Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists and others could be expected to seek whatever expanded freedoms or autonomy enjoyed by Catholics.
Howard W. French reported from Shanghai, and Ian Fisher from Rome.
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