BEIJING - CHINA'S state-run Catholic church installed a new
Vatican-approved bishop, officials said, after a delay triggered
when the cleric publicly voiced his allegiance to the Holy
See.
Reverend Joseph Gan Junqiu, 42, was ordained in the Sacred Heart
Cathedral of the southern city of Guangzhou on Tuesday morning,
said Mr Liu Bainian, vice-head of the government China Catholic
Patriotic Association.
'Gan Junqiu is replacing Lin Bingliang who died some time ago,' Mr
Liu said. 'He is the bishop of the Guangzhou diocese.'
According to the website of the Rome-based AsiaNews, a news portal
reporting on Catholicism in the region, Rev Gan was elected by his
diocese on November 2006 and his ordination has been approved by
the Holy See.
But delays over his ordination ceremony have stemmed from concerns
by the government association that surfaced after Rev Gan publicly
pledged allegiance to the Vatican, the website said.
The Holy See has long been at odds with China's communist-run
church over the appointment of bishops, but in recent months
Beijing has appeared willing to appoint church leaders that have
the blessing of the pope.
Such a situation has come as the Vatican has worked to reestablish
its relations with China where Catholicism has boomed over the last
decades.
The Vatican and China severed ties in 1951 in anger over the Holy
See's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.
In 1957, China set up the Patriotic Association, which formally
oversees China's officially registered Catholics, estimated at
numbering about five million, and growing.
According to AsiaNews, Rev Gan has been in charge of the Guangzhou
diocese since 2001 and maintains good relations with both the
Vatican and the state-run church.
Rev Gan 'is known to be an intelligent pastor, faithful to the
pope, committed to the evangelisation of the youth and aiding the
poor', the website said.
'He also has good relations with the government, who collaborated
in the restoration of Guangzhou cathedral, dedicated to the Sacred
Heart and re-opened to the public last February.' -- AFP