(CWN/Phil Lawler) — The goal of the secret agreement [between the Holy See and the Chinese communist regime] was to ensure that all the Catholic dioceses in China are led by bishops in full communion with the Holy See. In the six years since the agreement was concluded, Valente reports, nine new bishops have been ordained with the approval of both Beijing and the Holy See. “Thus, the number of vacant Chinese dioceses is gradually decreasing.”
True. But to keep things in proper perspective, the number of vacant Chinese sees is only very gradually decreasing. There are today, by my unofficial count, 46 Chinese dioceses, including three archdioceses, currently without a bishop. At the going rate of 1.5 episcopal ordinations a year, it would take a bit more than 30 years to provide every Chinese diocese with a bishop. And that projection assumes that no new openings would occur during those 30 years because of deaths or resignations—which would be extremely unlikely in any case, but particularly so given that at least two dioceses are currently led by bishops over 90 years old.
“National Seminary of [schismatic, communist] Catholic Church in China,” also known as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Photo (cropped here) by N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
