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The Vatican and China Reach Deal on Ordination of Bishops

posted by martyb on Friday October 21 2016, @07:10PM   
from the learning-to-get-along dept.

takyon writes:

It looks like the Roman Catholic Church is going official in China:

Representatives from the Vatican and China are expected to meet before the end of the month in Rome in an effort to finalize a deal on the ordination of bishops on the mainland, a move aimed at ending a longstanding dispute, according to Catholic Church sources familiar with the negotiations.

The Church sources also told Reuters that China is preparing to ordain at least two new bishops before the end of the year and these appointments would have the blessing of the Vatican. A person with ties to the leadership in Beijing confirmed that these ordinations would go ahead.

For more than six decades, China's ruling Communist Party has strongly opposed Rome's right to ordain Chinese bishops in a bitter contest for authority over as many as 10 million Catholics on the mainland. Bishops, priests and lay Catholics loyal to Rome have faced persecution, which has sparked skepticism over the détente in some Catholic quarters.

In yet a further sign of progress, the Vatican has reached a decision to recognize at least four Chinese bishops who were appointed by Beijing without the consent of the pope and so are considered illegitimate by the Holy See, according to Catholic Church sources and others briefed on the talks. The decision follows a breakthrough meeting in mid-August in Beijing between the Vatican representatives to talks with China and several of these bishops.

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Original Submission

• Re:How long Re:How long (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @05:40AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2016, @05:40AM (#417532)

  Catholic Church isn't really full of perverts out to sodomise every young person they touch. Most clergy are actually decent people who actually believe that "it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin." Catholic priests are no more likely to be sexual abusers than any random man. The only problem is they can cause plenty of damage in the position they are in, and the Church itself has failed to do enough to see that the offenders in their ranks are properly punished and their victims compensated.

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• those that rise highest, fall further (Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday October 22 2016, @06:22PM

  by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Saturday October 22 2016, @06:22PM (#417623) Journal

  I agree, despite my snarky post. A few bad men have cast a stain on the reputation of many well meaning and faithful priests striving to do good work. Indeed it is the lofty position they are placed in that causes such a backlash when those bad apples are revealed. The church leadership bears even more of the blame for failing to take direct and decisive action when needed. I feel the same about cops, when men, and women, are held to a higher standard, and then reveal that despite everything, they are just men and women and subject to the same temptations and failures as the rest of us, do fail it is always going to cause them to fall further than the common man or woman.

  --
  For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge

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