BEIJING — China's state-controlled Catholic church is considering ordaining seven more bishops, a senior official said Friday, in spite of a deepening rift with the Vatican over recent elevations lacking papal approval.
China last week named another bishop without the approval of the Holy See, the third such ordination in eight months, which has escalated tensions between the sides. The Vatican insists the pope has sole right to appoint bishops, but Beijing's Communist leaders see that position as foreign interference in their internal affairs.
China's bishops' council is considering seven candidates who were chosen through local bishops' elections, said Liu Bainian, honorary president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which runs China's Catholic churches.
"We have had local elections for bishops and seven candidates for bishops have already been submitted to the Council of Chinese Bishops and are waiting for approval," Liu said. "Upon inspection and approval, when the conditions are ripe, the ordinations will take place."
The China Daily newspaper said local churches in seven dioceses were getting ready to ordain bishops, citing the vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, Rev. Joseph Guo Jincai. But Liu said the bishop candidates were not yet approved and that it would take at least three months from gaining approval for an ordination to take place.
Asked if the elected bishop candidates were approved by the Holy See, Liu said: "There's no official channel for communications, but we cannot delay the election of our bishops because it is important to spread the gospel. We hope that the Vatican will respect the outcome of our elections."
Beijing severed ties with the Holy See in 1951 after the Communist Party took power and set up its own church outside the pope's authority.
Faithful on the mainland are allowed to worship only with the state-sanctioned church, which recognizes the pope as a spiritual leader but rejects his authority to appoint priests and bishops. A thriving underground following remains loyal to the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI has prioritized improving relations with Beijing and reconciling the two churches. In recent years a compromise had been reached under which both Beijing and Rome agreed on bishop candidates.
But the agreement seems to have fallen apart in recent months. The Vatican was furious over the ordinations of the Rev. Guo Jincai in Chengde city in November and the Rev. Paul Lei Shiyin in Sichuan province a few weeks ago. It does not recognize them as bishops.
In June, the Patriotic Association said it had to urgently fill more than 40 empty bishops' seats because the vacancies were causing serious problems in the handling of church affairs.