12/06/2025, 19.13

CHINA – VATICAN

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Xinxiang: Bishop Zhang and other Catholics silenced

by A priest from China’s underground community

Yesterday's episcopal ordination in Henan is opening new wounds rather than healing old ones. The underground bishop whose resignation Rome accepted is still under strict surveillance, unable to attend "his" ceremony, and not even his family can see him. A priest commented: Beijing is violating “the spirit of the Agreement.” “This is not the first time” that the Church “finds herself forced into silence, humiliation”. Ultimately, she “is not sustained by power, but by faith”.

Milan (AsiaNews) – “Bishop Zhang Weizhu is still under strict surveillance, deprived of freedom; his family cannot even see him or receive a sign of his safety, and yet the world is being told that he has been made 'emeritus’,” a source from Henan told AsiaNews a day after the episcopal ordination ceremony of the new apostolic prefect of Xinxiang, Bishop Li Jianlin, and the simultaneous announcement by the Holy See of the resignation of the ordinary, Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, 67, who was ordained secretly in 1991. Never recognised by Chinese authorities, he was instead openly persecuted for his refusal to join the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

The manner of this transition has left great bitterness among the faithful of the local underground communities. “Bishop Zhang Weizhu," they say, "was unable to participate in his own ceremony, nor was he given the opportunity to make his voice heard, while outsiders are being handed down a 'perfect' story. What we are losing is not only transparency and respect, but the fact that a pastor is treated as a clog in a process, not as a living person, in flesh and blood. May the truth not be silenced," they ask, "may those who suffer be seen, and may the Church, under any circumstances, never become used to considering injustice and silence as something 'normal'."

This morning, the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, released a new statement referring to a ceremony held today during which local authorities recognised the episcopal dignity of Bishop Emeritus Joseph Zhang Weizhu. In it he writes that, “This measure is the result of dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and constitutes an important new step in the journey of communion of the ecclesiastical circumscription.”

It should be noted that the statement released on the same ceremony by China Catholic, the website of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, reports that the prelate, after being kept away from his successor's ordination yesterday, gave a speech "expressing the need to adhere to patriotism and love for religion, to adhere to the principle of independent and self-governing Churches, to follow the trend of the sinicisation of Catholicism in our country, and to contribute to the overall construction of a modern socialist country and the overall promotion of the great rebirth of the Chinese nation.”

It is highly unlikely that Bishop Zhang is the author of these words, which leave strong doubts as to the tenor of the ceremony, very similar to the one that took place in September in Zhangjiakou for the other underground bishop, Mgr Augustine Cui Tai.

Regarding the two official statements about the ordination of the new bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang and those who have been silenced, we publish below a comment sent to AsiaNews by another priest from an "underground community" of Chinese Catholics.

The episcopal ordination of Father Francis Li Jianlin was celebrated in the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang yesterday. On the same day, the Chinese government issued an official statement, followed by one from the Holy See. Everything thus seems to fall under the umbrella of an "episcopal appointment made in accordance with the Sino-Vatican Provisional Agreement." But anyone even slightly familiar with the reality of the Church in China knows that these two statements are separated by a vast gulf. And it is precisely in the latter that those who have been excluded find themselves.

1. The splendour of the statements and the absences in reality

The Chinese statement emphasised the "solemn celebration," listing the members of the Chinese Bishops’ Conference present at the ceremony, but without even a formal mention of the legitimate Ordinary of Xinxiang Prefecture, Bishop Zhang Weizhu.

The Vatican statement, in its usual cautious and tactful language, states: the Holy Father has accepted the resignation of Bishop Zhang.

But the unspoken reality is different:

- Archbishop Zhang was not authorised to attend the ordination of his successor;

- despite being the legitimate Ordinary, he was completely sidelined, as if he had never existed;

- priests and nuns from the "unofficial" community received no information or invitation to participate;

- some lay parish leaders were summoned "for a preliminary interview" or even detained to prevent their presence.

A celebration that should have involved the entire local Church turned into a small ceremony, controlled by very few.

2. How a celebration can make the underground community "underground" again

When Bishop Zhang was asked to submit his resignation, he reportedly set only one condition: "That the situation of the priests and nuns of the underground community be provided for in a dignified manner."

It was the request of a pastor who, despite years of surveillance, restrictions, and pressure, continued to care only for his people.

Reality, however, proved otherwise:

- underground priests were not included in any provision;

- no list was drawn up, no recognition, no regularisation;

- no communication was made to them before the ceremony;

- many learned of the ordination only via the government announcement.

This is not a solution to problems: it is the creation of new conflicts. It is not the healing of old wounds: it is the opening of new ones.

The Holy See claims that everything happened “in accordance with the Provisional Agreement"; the Chinese side, however, proceeded according to its own logic, ignoring the role of Bishop Zhang, the spirit of the agreement, and the concrete situation in the prefecture.

This is the result of a profoundly asymmetric negotiation: an expression of the arrogance of state power and the painful endurance of the Church.

3. Bishop Zhang Weizhu: a bishop rendered invisible, yet the most Christlike

Whatever the external narrative, one fact cannot be erased; before this ordination, the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang had a legitimate bishop appointed by the Holy See: Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu.

After years of surveillance, restrictions, and isolation, without ever publicly complaining, he was finally induced to submit his resignation. On the very day a new bishop was ordained, he, the pastor of the diocese, could not even cross the threshold of the church. He was excluded completely, silently, almost surgically, like a shadow that time wishes to erase.

But neither history nor the memory of the Church will forget him. He truly appears as "the lamb led to the slaughter," silent, meek, obedient beneath the cross. If in all this there is a worldly victory, the victory of the Kingdom belongs instead to the testimony of Bishop Zhang.

4. Anger grows: A wounded community

The effects of this development on the local Church are profound:

- the priests of the underground community experience unprecedented anger, feeling ignored and cancelled;

- for women and men religious, the sense of exclusion from their own Church is felt like a wound;

- many ordinary believers knew nothing of such a major event;

- many seminarians and priests ask themselves: “Who are we? What value do we have in our own Church?”

This is not the type of pain that a simple statement can heal.

5. Where to go?

We are not called to be naive, but neither are we called to give in to despair.

This is not the first time, and it will not be the last, that the Church, under a system of strong control, finds herself forced into silence, humiliation, and suffering.

Yet, we continue to believe that:

- the Church is not sustained by power, but by faith;

- a bishop is not such by human will, but by the gift of the Spirit;

- true history is not written in statements, but in testimony;

- the forgotten, the excluded, the silenced are often the most profound signs of God in history.

Today Xinxiang seems to be opening a new chapter, but many wounds remain open and many questions unanswered. Perhaps the only way is this: to move towards the cross, towards the truth, towards Him who sees what people ignore and who never erases anyone from His heart.

6. Despite everything: congratulations to the new bishop and a prayer of hope

Despite the contradictions, suffering, and unresolved tensions, with filial hearts we nevertheless say: best wishes for the ordination of the new bishop. Every bishop is a gift to the Church.

Therefore, we sincerely pray:

- that Bishop Li Jianlin will put the good of the Church first, beyond external or political pressures;

- that he can truly undertake the task of rebuilding unity in the prefecture, healing the wounds of so many years;

- that he will have a father's heart towards every priest and religious, especially those who today feel ignored or excluded;

- that he will not only be an ordained bishop, but a true shepherd for this wounded land.

The burden he bears is not light. The road ahead will not be easy. But if the Spirit has allowed this day to come, then we can only hope that he will find a truly evangelical path in the midst of so many tensions.

May he become an instrument of unity, not division;

may he bring healing, not new wounds;

may he respond with sincerity, humility, and courage to the voice of this time.

Conclusion: In a torn land, continue to believe in the Resurrection

What Xinxiang is experiencing is not just a religious or political issue, but a manifestation of the tensions and trials of our time.

Yet we believe that:

- God acts in the moments of silence of history;

- He manifests himself in the forgotten;

- He plants seeds of resurrection precisely in the darkest places.

May the new bishop be the guardian of these seeds.

May the cross of Bishop Zhang become a light for the prefecture.

May all those who have been excluded, silenced, forgotten know that for God, no one is an “empty place”.