China Installs Bishop With Pope's Approval

After half a century, some movement in Beijing-Vatican standoff
By Asta Hostetter,  Newser User
Posted Sep 21, 2007 3:06 PM CDT
China Installs Bishop With Pope's Approval
Chinese faithful worship at the northern cathedral of the National Patriotic Church in Beijing, China Saturday June 30, 2007. China's government-backed Catholic church had no immediate plans to read out or otherwise distribute a letter from the Pope to the country's faithful, an official said Saturday....   (Associated Press)

Pope Benedict publicly approved the appointment of the new bishop installed today in Beijing, bringing some warmth to long-frozen relations between the Holy See and China’s government-controlled church, Reuters reports. In a critical test for future ties, Joseph Li Shan took over the highest-profile diocese in the atheist nation, which severed formal ties with the Vatican in 1951.

The pope has signaled interest in a thaw, most recently in an open letter urging unification. Rome has insisted it must pick future bishops, though it would consider government counsel. Bettering relations is a two-way street: Chinese Catholics do honor the Pope, but didn't invoke his name during today's ceremony. (More Pope Benedict XVI stories.)

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