In a direct challenge to the authority of the Vatican, Beijing has authorised the consecration today of three new bishops in China's state-approved Catholic Church, the same day Pope John Paul consecrates 12 new bishops at a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica marking the Feast of the Epiphany.
The move appears to be aimed at strengthening Beijing's hand in secret talks between the Chinese Government and the Vatican over normalising relations, but the immediate result has been to set back the negotiations, Catholic Church sources said.
"I have to express the surprise and disappointment of the Holy See that this decision has been taken at a time when hopes were raised in various quarters of moves towards a normalisation of relations between the Holy See and Beijing," the chief papal spokesman, Dr Joaquin NavarroValls, said in the Vatican. "This act, however, raises obstacles that will certainly impede this process."
Talks have been going on behind the scenes between Chinese and Vatican officials for some months aimed at restoring diplomatic relations broken off in 1951 when China shut the papal nunciature in Beijing. Pope John Paul said last year that he dreamt one day of visiting China, but he cannot do so until diplomatic relations are re-established.
Known as the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the officially sanctioned Catholic Church in China does not recognise papal authority over its four million members. The authority of the Pope is based on his sole right to appoint bishops; there are currently 70 bishops in the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, all appointed without Rome's approval.
These prelates occupy a grey area in the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church. While their appointments are "illegitimate" because they are not authorised by the Pope, they are not "invalid" if they maintain the apostolic line - that is, if they are consecrated by bishops who can trace their appointments to Rome, according to Catholic Church sources. All the appointments of bishops by communist China have so far maintained the apostolic line.
The bishops being consecrated at the Vatican do not include any from China, according to the official list of 12 new prelates, but the Pope has made a number of secret (in pectore) appointments in the past. There are an estimated 70 underground Catholic bishops in China, working with several million Catholics who worship in secret and recognise the Pope, the sources said.
The new bishops are the Rev Su Changshan (73), an auxiliary bishop for Baoding in the northern province of Hebei; the Rev Lu Xingping (35), an auxiliary bishop for the eastern city of Nanjing, and the Rev Zhan Silu (39), auxiliary bishop for the Mindong diocese in the south-eastern province of Fujian, the official said.
The decision to conduct the ceremonies on the same day as the Pope consecrates bishops in Rome has particularly irked the Vatican, which reportedly sees it as an affront at a time when the two sides are in contact over future relations. One observer said that the appointments were aimed at showing China's ability to rejuvenate the leadership of the official Catholic Church without establishing ties with Rome.
The vice-president of the Patriotic Catholic Association, Mr Liu Bonian, said the timing was a coincidence and the appointments were to meet church needs. All three had been elected in their bishoprics before being approved by religious committees in each of the three provinces and the congregation of the official churches, he said.