Beijing has not had formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican since 1951, but the steady growth of China's Catholic population has repeatedly tested the Communist Party's ability to exert centralized control over the lives of its citizens. That's not to say that Beijing hasn't pushed back. On Saturday, Father Guo Jincai was ordained bishop of Chengde, a city in the northeastern province of Hebei, by China's state-sanctioned church, the Catholic Patriotic Association. The Vatican had opposed Bishop Guo's ordination, warning last week that it would be "illicit and damaging" to China's relations with the Holy See.

As if the unapproved ordination itself weren't enough, it was conferred by Vatican-approved bishops who were forced by local authorities to participate. Priests in a number of Hebei dioceses told Catholic news agencies that their bishops were seen leaving with government officials earlier last week, and that they had not been heard from since. In a sharply condemnatory statement on Wednesday, the Vatican said that the arm-twisting constituted "a grave violation of freedom of religion and conscience."

The row marks the abrupt end of a period of warming ties between Beijing and the Holy See. Bishop Guo's was the first unsanctioned ordination in China since 2006. Pope Benedict XVI had worked to mend antagonism by quietly accepting Beijing's choices for new bishops and offering apostolic mandates to others who had been ordained without papal approval; an estimated 90% of CPA bishops have now reconciled with the Vatican. In a 2007 letter, the pope said that he was open to further negotiations with China, and that he believed relations could be normalized.

But Bishop Guo's ordination shows that religious practice in China still remains very much subject to Beijing's whims. The unpredictability weighs most heavily on ordinary Catholics, who must accept illegitimate pastors or, very often, no pastors at all: Only 57 of the 97 state-approved dioceses currently have an officiating bishop. And at least 30 of these state-approved bishops are over 80 years old, meaning that the strains on the system are not likely to ease any time soon. It's no surprise that so many choose to worship in unauthorized congregations loyal to Rome, risking arrest and harassment if discovered.

By church doctrine, Bishop Guo is subject to automatic excommunication for his illicit ordination. CPA Vice Chairman Liu Bainian told the Associated Press this week that he didn't believe the Vatican would go so far. "I believe the pope loves China. I believe just a handful of people in the Vatican are hindering the improvement of relations." A handful of bureaucrats in Beijing are the more likely culprits.

(Nov.26.2010. Wall Street Journal)