UCANews: China will continue its practice of electing and ordaining bishops independent of the Holy See, according to a 2015 working plan by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).
The plan, which appeared on the SARA website on January 15, was the product of a national meeting of religious officials in Beijing on December 26-27, in which SARA director Wang Zuoan is quoted as saying “2015 will be a very important year for religious work”.
Wang added that the administration’s work “must be done according to religious regulations, promote the rule of law and take the opinion of the faithful into consideration when implementing religious policies and directions of the central government” because of outstanding issues.
These outstanding issues, according to the working plan, include support for the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the bishop’s conference in proceeding with the independent election and ordination of bishops. More on this here.
