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Wuhan diocese finally gets new bishop under China-Vatican agreement
- Cui Qingqi is the sixth appointment under the 2018 pact, aimed at ending the schism between China’s underground and state-run Catholic churches
- He is trusted by Beijing and heads the local church bodies overseen by the Communist Party
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A Catholic priest has finally been appointed as the bishop for the Chinese city of Wuhan – after leading the diocese unofficially for nine years.
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Father Francesco Cui Qingqi was consecrated at the Cathedral of St Joseph in Hankou district in Wuhan on Wednesday, becoming the sixth member of the clergy ordained under the 2018 Sino-Vatican agreement on the appointment of bishops.
Pope Francis named the 57-year-old the bishop of Hankou/Wuhan in June, the Holy See press office said. The Hankou/Wuhan designation reflects ongoing differences between Beijing and the Vatican on diocese jurisdiction.
Cui is the fourth bishop to be consecrated since October, when the Vatican and China renewed the controversial agreement for a further two years.
Mainland China’s 12 million Catholics are split between an “underground” church that looks to the Pope for authority, and state-run churches controlled by the government’s Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). The Holy See said it hoped that the 2018 pact would end the schism.
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