HONG KONG (UCAN): Bishop Jin Yangke of Ningbo Diocese in Zhejiang province in China, was installed as the ordinary for the diocese in a tightly controlled ceremony on August 18, making him the sixth bishop installed since the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement on bishops’ appointments two years ago.
About 150 people were allowed to attend the ceremony, including some 30 priests and 30 nuns. Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming, chairperson Bishops’ Conference of Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) and vice-chairperson of the CCPA of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), led the ceremony.
“The ceremony was very strictly controlled, with only priests, nuns, officials and relatives of the bishop inside,” said one Catholic who waited outside the church.
The 62-year-old Bishop Jin was with the official Church, but his predecessor, Bishop Mathew Hu Xiande, a Vatican-appointed bishop, secretly ordained him as coadjutor bishop in 2012 because he did not want the cermony to be contaminated by the presence of any illicitly ordained bishops, a Church said.
When Bishop Hu died in 2017, Bishop Jin took over the diocese and continued as its ordinary, although he had not been publicly ordained or installed as bishop.
The latest installation makes Bishop Jin the head of Ningbo Diocese, approved by the Chinese state and the Vatican, the source said.
A Church observer explained that three different types of bishops have been installed publicly since the agreement was signed.
In the first group, bishops from the unofficial Church were installed as bishops of the official Church after approval by authorities.
The second group comprised priests of the unofficial Church who turned to the official commmunity and were later secretly ordained with Vatican approval.
The third group were priests of the official Church who were ordained secretly as bishops with the Vatican’s mandate.
Bishop Jin’s case is an example of the third category. He was already a priest and bishop of the official Church, heading a diocese without any public ordination or installation. The latest ceremony validates his position, the observer said.
The Church observer said all three categories have something in common: “They were all secretly appointed and ordained with a Vatican mandate before the agreement.”
At the ceremony, Bishop Jin’s letter of approval was read out by Father Yang Yu, deputy secretary-general of the BCCCC and CCPA.
Bishop Jin made a solemn vow to lead the diocese, to abide by China’s constitution, uphold the unity of the motherland and social harmony, and love the country and the Church.
He also vowed to insist on the Church’s autonomy, adhere to the direction of Chinese Catholicism in China, and contribute to the realization of the “Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Born in 1958, Bishop Jin graduated from the Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai, and has served the Diocese of Ningbo since his priestly ordination in 1990.
He was appointed vice director of the Church Affairs Committee of Zhejiang province in 2014 and director of the CCPA of Ningbo three years later.
