Pope Leo XIV appointed a second bishop in China, Ignazio Wu Jianlin, auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, a result of the agreement signed during the pontificate of Francis with the Beijing authorities, which, with some difficulties, has been renewed until 2028. The Vatican announced this Wednesday that the episcopal ordination of Ignazio Wu Jianlin took place, whom the pontiff had appointed on August 11, 2025 “after having approved his candidacy within the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China”. Reverend Ignazio Wu Jianlin was born on January 27, 1970, and was ordained a priest on December 22, 1997, and appointed spiritual director of the same seminary. From 2013 to 2023, he contributed to the management of the diocese during the period of vacant see and subsequently, held the position of vicar general, the Vatican reported. On June 5th, Leo XIV already appointed Joseph Lin Yuntuan, auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou. This new appointment was possible within the framework of dialogue regarding the application of the agreement between the Holy See and China, approved in 2018 and renewed twice already, which allows the consensual election of bishops, a competence of the Pope that Beijing viewed as interference.
Both states have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1951, after the rise of the communist Mao Zedong, and since then the Catholics of that country were divided between the patriotic Church, controlled by Beijing, and the clandestine one, loyal to Rome.
Since then, with ups and downs in the application of the agreement, a dozen episcopal ordinations have taken place.Although the points of the pact are unknown, on some occasion Francisco had explained that the choice was made in agreement with the authorities of the country, but that the last word was his.
Recently, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin stated that the Holy See still considers the agreement positive “as it has allowed the Holy See and China to reach a basic consensus on the fundamental issue of the appointment of bishops”.
Although he acknowledged that “there are difficulties, but they must be addressed with great patience and confidence” and that currently, “there are still groups that declare themselves clandestine, but the Agreement precisely intended to overcome this situation of division and lead towards the normalization of the Church.”
