Beijing has officially – and finally – recognised a 95-year-old prelate as the bishop of the northern diocese of Tianjin.
The bishop had previously been subject to long periods in jail and under house arrest for his refusal to join the government-sponsored church body that is the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA).
Bishop Melchiorre Shi Honghzen was recognised by the government in a ceremony in a local hotel rather than in Tianjin cathedral – reportedly by Shi’s choice – in a sign of the essentially civil rather than ecclesiastical nature of the act.
