Cardinal Zen sets the record straight on those Chinese episcopal ordinations. His version is a little different than the government's. He says that all the faithful in China understand that it's the Pope who makes bishops --not the Communists.
Precisely because of this, at the Episcopal ordination organised by the Patriotic Association at the start of 2000, when there were 12 candidates, only five came forward, and they went to the ordination with their eyes brimming with tears. Even the seminarians of the national seminary of Beijing, directly dependent on Liu Bainian [deputy chairman of the PA, the man responsible for the illicit ordinations that took place recently], did not attend that ordination. Thereafter, the Holy See reminded all that Canon 1382 of Canon law [about excommunication latae sententiae] was still valid.
Those who are forced to be ordained as bishops illicitly [without the permission of the Holy See], do not face an easy situation: priests generally refuse to concelebrate with them; the faithful do not want to participate in their masses. From this attitude of priests and believers, a very clear significance emerges. And I myself therefore say that “in China, there is only one Catholic Church and all want to be led by the pope.”
Read on.
