Joseph Yang Yongqiang, 54, served as bishop in Zhoucun, Shandong. He is one of two Chinese prelates who participated in the Synod last October. He is slated to occupy an historically important see for the Church in China, where the last bishop was chosen following a row in 2000. Zheijang is the same province where the authorities do not recognise and persecute Bishop Shao Zumin.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – A Chinese bishop is changing see, but this time the move has been agreed with the Vatican, under the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of ChinaolHoly See Hol on episcopal appointments.

The prelate in question is one of two Chinese bishops who took part last October in the first session of the Synod Assembly in the Vatican.

The Holy See Press Office announced today that Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang, a 54-year-old prelate from Shandong, was appointed bishop of Hangzhou, Zheijang province, transferring him from Zhoucun, in his native province.

A priest since 1995, Bishop Yang Yongqiang was ordained coadjutor bishop in Zhoucun in 2010 with the assent of Rome and succeeded Bishop Joseph Ma Xuesheng who died in 2013.

It is interesting to note that the press release says that the appointment took place on 12 June but was made public only today, while the official invitation for the bishop’s entry to the diocese on 27 June is already in the public domain, indicating that the decision to move the prelate came from “higher authorities”.

Another significant fact is the fact that Hangzhou is treated as a diocese and not an archdiocese, adapting to the "official" ecclesiastical map imposed by Beijing, which does not distinguish metropolises with a different rank from other local churches.

A successor in the Diocese of Zhoucun is also not indicated, which leaves the total number of Chinese bishops unchanged, despite the fact that a third of dioceses – six years since the Agreement was signed – are still vacant.

As with the transfer of Bishop Joseph Shen Bin to Shanghai – whose unilateral character in April 2023 strained relations between the Vatican and Beijing, healed three months later when he was also appointed by Pope Francis – it is clear that this is part of a plan to fill a "strategic" seat for China’s Catholic community.

Zheijang is in fact one of the Chinese provinces where the Christian presence is strongest. Some 300 kilometres south of the provincial capital of Hangzhou lies the city of Wenzhou, known as the “Chinese Jerusalem”.

Matthew Cao Xiangde, a prelate consecrated unlawfully during the 2000 row with the Holy See, served as the archbishop of Hangzhou. Before him, two other "patriotic" bishops were appointed to this episcopal chair: Matthias Wu Guo-huan in 1960, and John Zhu Fengqing in 1988.

In 2004 Archbishop Cao Xiangde asked to return to communion with Rome, a request the Vatican accepted in 2008, but without recognising his jurisdiction. He died at the age of 93 in July 2021.

With today’s appointment, a long wound closes for the local church, which occupies a great place in the history of Chinese Catholicism.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Hangzhou is one of the oldest churches in China, built in 1661 by the great Jesuit missionary Martino Martini who died and is buried there.

Hangzhou is also remembered for Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun, two great Chinese figures who converted to Christianity after meeting Matteo Ricci. Together with Xu Guangqi, the first disciple of Shanghai, they are remembered as the “three pillars of Chinese Catholicism”.

As important Hangzhou is in Church history, it should not be forgotten that Zheijang is one of the provinces where Christian communities have been the subjected the most to repression in recent years.

No more than a decade ago it was the epicenter of the bitter clash over crosses officially torn down by the authorities for "esthetic reasons”.

More recently, the Diocese of Yongjia/Wenzhou, “vacant" according to Beijing's official count, is the episcopal see of the “underground” Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin, ordained coadjutor with the mandate of the Holy See in 2011, and constantly persecuted for his refusal to join the Patriotic Association.

Bishop Shao Zumin was arrested again this January, after he challenged the authorities' decision to entrust the government of the diocese to Fr Ma Xianshi, a member of the Patriotic Association.

• china
• vatican
• episcopal appointment
• pope francis
• provisional agreement
• joseph yang yongqiang
• hangzhou
• zheijang
• zhoucun
• shandong