Two Chinese Bishops Leave in the Middle of the Synod

In the middle of the Synod on Synodality, two bishops of mainland China will return to their country this week, before the end of the synodal meetings. The Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, claims that they are returning to their country to address pastoral needs. Evidently, they will not be exercising their right to vote as members of the Synod.

The Chinese bishops only participated in the first 12 days of the Synod assembly, following a nearly identical pattern to the two Chinese bishops who took part in the 2018 Synod on Youth.

The Vatican’s Explanation

When asked at a synod press conference why the Chinese bishops are leaving early, Ruffini said that their departure is due to “pastoral needs” in their diocese that require their presence. He did not explain what those needs were nor if they were so urgent that they could prevent the bishops from staying a few days more in Rome.

During their time in Italy, the Chinese bishops also traveled to Naples with the bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, according to Asia News. They offered Mass on Oct. 8 in the Chiesa della Sacra Famiglia dei Cinesi (Church of the Holy Family of the Chinese).

The church was built in 1732 as part of an institute founded by Pope Clement XII to train Chinese seminarians and teach missionaries the Chinese language to help with the evangelization of China.

The Pro-Communist Bishops

In addition to the synod, Yang also participated in the 2023 National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body that is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s united front system, where it was decided that the Catholic Church should integrate its thought with the party and unite more closely to Xi Jinping, according to the official website of the Catholic Patriotic Association.

Yang, who was ordained with Vatican approval in 2010, is the vice president of the Chinese-government-sanctioned Catholic bishops’ conference and was elected as a leader of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association in December 2016. These 2 groups are not recognized by the Catholic Church.

Yao was the first bishop consecrated in China under the terms of the Sino-Vatican agreement, on Aug.[JO4]  26, 2019. He is the bishop of Jining in China’s Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia. He served as the secretary and later vice director of the liturgical commission overseen by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Council of Chinese Bishops since 1998, two organizations under the control of the Communist government.

They Are Not True Pastors of the People

In an interview with Diane Montagna for the Catholic Herald, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, spoke on the topic of the 2 Chinese bishops:

“They are all chosen by the Pope from the bishops recognized by the Pope as legitimate. But they are all from the bishops obedient to the government, not from those real pastors of the people—in both the official and underground Churches—who now are even more persecuted than before the secret agreement.”