Chinese Catholics on edge of schism

posted July 21, 2011
By Francesco Sisci

BEIJING - The latest choice is Joseph Huang Bingzhang, 43. On July 15, he was ordained as bishop of Shantou in the southern province of Guangdong, next to Hong Kong, without papal approval.

Pope Benedict XVI reacted the day after, saying he was deeply saddened. Without papal blessing, the appointment was illegitimate, and the new bishop and all bishops who took part in it willingly, under no duress, should be automatically excommunicated.

As some 140 new bishops are expected to be appointed over the next few years, and the bilateral mechanism between China and the Holy See for agreeing on the choice of new bishops is breaking down, then the possibility of an objectively schismatic Church of China is becoming quite real. the rest