“I wish to thank the Pope,” Mgr Joseph Li Shan said in his first public statement after his ordination as the new archbishop of Beijing in the ancient Saint-Saviour (Bei Tang) Church. Monsignor Li began this way his ministry, promising to visit each and every parish, meeting the faithful in the diocese of 50,000.
The prelate’s few words of thanks to the Pontiff cleared the air of any doubts that might have lingered about the ordination’s legitimacy.
The bishop, who was ordained last Friday in a ceremony attended by government and Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCAP) officials, received Vatican approval ahead of time. Another confirmation was published in an article in the Osservatore Romano a few hours after the function.
The Vatican had kept silence until the end whilst CCPA Deputy Chairman Liu Bainian claimed the appointment for his organisation and the Chinese Bishops’ Council.
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