【天主教在线讯】据《中国日报》英文版的报道，《中国日报》援引中国天主教爱国会的话说，中国大陆七个教区正在准备举行“主教”祝圣礼。天主教在线予以全文翻译如下：
天主教爱国会副主席郭金才对《中国日报》表示，中国大陆至少七个教区自行选举的“主教们”将在“时机成熟”的时候晋牧。而当地教会正在为已获得任命的“主教们”准备祝圣礼。
这位43岁的河北承德教区“主教”没有给出一个祝圣时间表，因为前期工作“很复杂，涉及方方面面”。
郭金才说：“在祝圣礼前，主教候选人必须提交申请先获得当地宗教局的批准。同时，与其他教区协调好祝圣礼的时间安排”。
今年以来，中国已先后祝圣了三位“主教”。
最近的祝圣礼是上周四在广东省汕头市为若瑟·黄炳章举行的。作为回应，梵蒂冈绝罚了黄炳章并且说他的祝圣是非法的。
中国社科院世界宗教研究所所长卓新平对《中国日报》表示，中国举行了未经教宗批准的祝圣礼，但绝罚一个“主教”，实属罕见。梵蒂冈很少以这种方式作为回应。中梵关系可能已陷入20世纪50年代以来的最低水平。
去年11月中梵关系就已经转差脆弱不堪了，2006年以来首位没有教宗任命的郭金才被祝圣为“主教”，很快他就被提拔为天主教爱国会副主席。
爱国会发言人杨宇却辩解说：“没有梵蒂冈批准的“主教”祝圣是为了“教会的生存”。爱国会希望改善同梵蒂冈的关系”。
来自北京教区的杨宇，在6月份被任命为爱国会的发言人，这在爱国会的历史上还是第一次，爱国会正努力展现出一个更为开放的姿态。
杨宇说：“目前大陆97个教区中至少有40个没有主教，这严重影响了向600万天主教徒的福传工作”。
早前，爱国会主席房兴耀主教对《中国日报》表示，选举和祝圣“主教”是第一要务。
房兴耀说：“爱国会支持那些没有主教的教区选出他们的精神领袖”。
杨宇说：“一些教区正在按照严格的程序准备祝圣礼”。
英文版：
Seven dioceses to ordain elected bishops
Updated: 2011-07-22 11:24
By Zhao Yinan (China Daily)
BEIJING - At least seven dioceses on the Chinese mainland will ordain their elected bishops when "conditions are right", a leading bishop said.
Joseph Guo Jincai, vice-chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, told China Daily that local churches are preparing for the consecrations of the bishops-designate in the seven dioceses.
Guo, 43, is also the bishop of Chengde Diocese in Hebei province. He did not provide a timetable for the ordinations because preliminary work is "complicated and involves various parties".
Candidates for bishop have to submit applications before the local commission of religious affairs gives its approval for the ordination ceremony. Meanwhile, bishops from other dioceses have to coordinate schedules to attend the ceremony, the bishop said.
In the latest ceremony, Joseph Huang Bingzhang was ordained in Shantou city, Guangdong province, last Thursday, after three other bishops were appointed this year.
The Vatican, in response, excommunicated Huang and said he had been appointed "illicitly".
Zhuo Xinping, director of the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the Vatican rarely responds in such a manner.
He told China Daily that Sino-Vatican relations may have plunged to their lowest level since the 1950s.
"There have been occasions when China carried out ordinations without papal approval, but 'to excommunicate a bishop' is rare," he said.
Relations, already fragile, took a turn for the worse in November, when Guo was ordained and later promoted to vice-chairman of the association. Guo was the first bishop appointed by the association without papal approval since 2006.
Association spokesman Yang Yu, however, defended the appointments of bishops without Vatican approval, saying that they were for the "survival of the church". The association hopes to improve relations with the Vatican, he said.
Yang, from the Beijing Diocese, was appointed spokesman for the association in June, the first in its history, as it endeavors to show a more open approach.
At least 40 out of the 97 Catholic dioceses on the Chinese mainland currently do not have a bishop, which has hindered the spreading of the Gospel for an estimated 6 million believers, he said.
Bishop John Fang Xingyao, chairman of the association, told China Daily earlier that the election of bishops and their consecration are priorities.
He said that the association encourages dioceses without bishops to elect their spiritual leaders.
Yang said some dioceses are preparing for the ordinations which follow strict procedures.
China Daily
(China Daily 07/22/2011 page3) |
