Vatican takes hard line on the most awful of crimes-- defiance of Pope Ratso's authority

UCAN: Vatican official says statement on illicit ordination in China not 'too soft'
By Gerard O'Connell
12/22/2006

UCANews (www.ucanews.com)

VATICAN CITY (UCAN) – A senior Vatican official has refuted assertions that a statement the Holy See issued on Dec. 2 following the third illegitimate ordination of a Catholic bishop in mainland China in 2006 was "too soft."

The official, who asked not to be named, explained to UCA News on Dec. 12 that "on the contrary, it went to the heart of the problem" by pointing out that "non-church agencies are imposing a vision of the church that is not consonant with Catholic tradition."

The Vatican is aware, he said, that some Catholics in China, mainly in the "underground" community, have been somewhat critical of the Dec. 2 statement that the Holy See's Press Office issued after the Nov. 30 episcopal ordination, without papal approval, of Father John Wang Renlei in Xuzhou.

According to those critics, that ordination might not have happened if the Holy See had taken a stronger stance in a statement it issued on May 4, after the illegitimate episcopal ordinations of Father Ma Yinglin in Kunming Diocese on April 30 and Father Joseph Liu Xinhong in Anhui Diocese on May 3.

More:
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22463


See also:



Cardinal: Excommunicate Chinese Bishops

The leader of Hong Kong's Roman Catholics says Pope {Ratso} should excommunicate bishops consecrated by the state-sanctioned church in China.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, who serves as a spokesman for the Vatican on the church in China, suggested that in ordinations last month China had defied the church, The Telegraph reported.

"I think people in the underground church and also in the good part of the official church don't expect the Holy See to ratify this ordination easily, and they don't expect the Holy See to absolve these bishops from sanctions," he said.

About 6 million in China are members of the state-sanctioned church, while at least as many people attend underground churches. Bishops of the underground church have been imprisoned, and Zen said two were abducted and forced to attend the recent ordination in an attempt to give it credibility.

More:
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_6024-Cardinal-Excommunicate-Chinese-Bishops.html

Count on it. "The Church" is all about land. For your average Pope, cardinal, bishop or monsignor, real estate is a bigger rush than sex, drgs, or rock 'n' roll.