“The Vatican-CCP compromise on the Bishop of Shanghai: Who won and who lost”, Bitter Winter, July 17, 2023:
“On April 4, Bishop Shen Bin, until then Bishop of Haimen, was installed as the new Bishop of Shanghai by the CCP. The Vatican stated officially that “the Holy See learned from the media of the installation” the morning it happened.
The text of the Vatican-China deal of 2018, renewed in 2020 and 2022, is secret, but it is known that it regulates the administration of the Catholic dioceses and the appointment of bishops. The latter are still selected by the CCP but should be officially appointed by the Vatican. In the case of Shanghai, Shen Bin was not appointed by the Vatican as Bishop of that city. Yet, he was installed.
On July 15, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis had appointed Shen Bin as Bishop of Shanghai, transferring him from Haimen. Of course, this happened more than three months after he had already been installed in Shanghai by the CCP. The Vatican said that it had “rectified a canonical irregularity” for “the greater good of the diocese……”
Read the full article at Bitterwinter.org
