The Vatican has said it is disturbed by reports from mainland China that government officials are forcing bishops to attend an illicit episcopal ordination.
Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said: "If these reports are true, then the Holy See would consider such actions as grave violations of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
"It would also consider such an ordination as illicit and damaging to the constructive relations that have been developing in recent times between the People's Republic of China and the Holy See," the statement said.
