Two Chinese Catholic bishops to attend synod for first time after Vatican-Beijing deal
State-appointed Bishop Joseph Guo, whose excommunication was only lifted after signing of historic agreement, will be among those travelling to Rome
Catholic bishops from China will for the first time attend a major Vatican meeting starting this week, the Holy See said on Monday, the first concrete sign of a thaw in relations with Beijing following a landmark agreement.
“There will be two bishops from continental China. They were invited by the Pope,” Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri told a news conference. “I think they are already on their way to Rome.”
Baldisseri said it was the first time the Beijing government has allowed bishops to leave the country to attend a Vatican synod, a meeting which takes place every few years on a different topic.
The deal, which was in the making for more than 10 years and signed on September 22, gives the Vatican a long-sought say in the choice of bishops in China, though critics have labelled it a sellout to the Communist government.
China’s approximately 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
One of the bishops, Joseph Guo Jincai, was ordained into the government-backed church without papal permission and had been excommunicated by the Vatican. As part of the September 22 agreement, the pope lifted his excommunication and recognised his legitimacy.