2 priests “chosen” as Catholic bishops in China after the death of Pope Francis | National Catholic register

While the Catholic Church continues through a period of the interregnum between the reign of Popes, the Chinese authorities have taken steps to claim the China in China's autonomy from Rome by one on one side two bishops “Select” in a diocese that has already been cited by a Vatican appoint-up-up bishop.

On April 28, Father Wu Jianlin, General Pakar von Shanghai, was selected by a meeting of local priests as the new auxiliary bishop of the city. The next day, Father Li Jianlin was “elected” as Bishop of the Diocese of Xinxiang.

On Thursday afternoon there was no reports that the two priests were installed as a bishop.

Both dates take place during a Dede Vacante – the period in which the Apotolian lake is free after the death of Pope Francis on April 21 – a time when the Holy chair cannot ratify the bishop nominations. A conclave to choose the next Pope is scheduled to begin on May 7th.

These appointments in China will present the new Pope with an early diplomatic challenge.

The appointment in Xinxiang is particularly controversial. The Vatican already recognizes Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu as a legitimate bishop of the diocese. Zhang was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1991 and has spent decades without government permit and arrested several times.

According to a report by the Hudson Institute in 2024, he was last in custody in 2021 in the recovery of cancer operations in custody.

Father Li Jianlin, the elected Bischofs diocese in the eyes of Beijing, has a history of agreement with the Communist Party. In 2018 he showed a guideline that enforced a ban on minors who visited Henan Messe in the province of Henan. His appointment is seen by observers as an open challenge for the Vatican authority, especially in view of the presence of a seated bishop that has already been appointed by Rome.

The step underlines the fragile and often opaque relationship between the Vatican and Beijing. A preliminary agreement between the two sides from 2018, which was last renewed in October 2024, is intended to regulate the appointment of bishops in China through a common process.

While the conditions of the agreement have never been publicly announced, Asia News reported that Beijing, even as part of the Vatican China Agreement, generally presented the Vatican a single candidate for the clergyman, which the Pope then or not.

In recent years, the Vatican officials have recognized that Beijing has violated the agreement several times.

Bishop Shen Bin, who was installed in Shanghai in Shanghai in 2023 without the approval of the Vatican in Shanghai, was later recognized by Pope Francis “for the good of the diocese” – a license that triggered controversy. The appointment of WU this week as Shen's auxiliary seems to consolidate Shens Power in Shanghai.

During the Pontificate of Francis, the Vatican was criticized for a subdued reaction to China's human rights violations, including the internment of the Uyghur Muslim and the detention of Catholic Pro Democracy activists Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong.

Human rights groups have also documented the continuous persecution of Catholic clergy in the underground clergy, whereby seven bishops were currently being recorded without legal proceedings.

On May 1st, new restrictions from China's united front came into force to prevent foreign clergymen from leading religious activities for Chinese without invitation from the Chinese government, which severely restricted foreign mission activities in the country.

In the meantime, the Catholic institutions in China offered the state -sanctioned institutions in China little of the death of Pope Francis.

The Patriotic Catholic Association mentioned it when the website was passed on, while the 76th anniversary of the communist victory in Nanjing was given a greater awareness. On April 23, the Catholics gathered in Nanjing to honor the soldiers of the fallen People's Liberation Army without mentioning the deceased Pope at the event.

When the conclave approaches, the next phase of Vaticaniplomacy with China will probably define the next phase of Vaticaniplomacy, as the new Pope navigates through the challenging relationship with Beijing and reacts to episfale appointments.