CHINA-INTERNAL: RELIGION CHRISTIANITY
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AsiaNews reported on December 13 that Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli went to Beijing as special envoy of Pope Francis to “accept” the resignations of the bishops of the Underground Catholic Church for the dioceses of Mindong, Mgr. Vincent Guo Xijin, and Shantou, Mgr. Peter Zhuang Jianjian. The Vatican will now recognize Mgr. Vincent Zhan Silu as bishop of Mindong and Mgr. Joseph Huang Bingzhang as bishop of Shantou. These are bishops of the Patriotic Catholic Church -- approved by Beijing -- whom the Vatican has previously excommunicated, but later pardoned as part of the Vatican-China Deal of 2018. The Vatican has asked Mgr. Guo to continue as auxiliary bishop in Mindong, under the new bishop Mgr. Zhan. However, under Chinese law, in order to do so Mgr. Guo needs the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s authorization. It seems that the Vatican and the CCP re moving towards the merger of the two Catholic Churches -- the Underground and the Patriotic -- withthe Patriotic bishops now recognized also by the Holy See.
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