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Catholics Bid Farewell To First ´Self-Elect, Self-Ordain´ Bishop

Updated: May 17, 2007 05:00 PM GMT
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About 1,000 Catholics attended the funeral of Bishop Bernardine Dong Guangqing of Wuhan (formerly Hankou diocese), one of China´s first two "self-elect and self-ordain" bishops.

Bishop John Huo Cheng of Fenyang, from northern China´s Shanxi province, presided at requiem Masses at the Hankou cathedral on May 17 and at the Wuchang Funeral Home on May 18.

Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, is 1,060 kilometers south of Beijing. The Yangtze and a tributary meet in Wuhan and cut the city into three parts -- Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang. Three dioceses based in these "three towns of Wuhan," one named after each, were amalgamated to form Wuhan diocese in the government-approved "open" Church in 2000.

Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming, Auxiliary Bishop Paul He Zeqing of Wanzhou (Wanxian) and dozens of priests from Wuhan and other dioceses concelebrated at the Masses. Seminarians of the Central and Southern Theological and Philosophical Seminary in Wuchang attended to pay tribute.

After the funeral liturgy on May 18, Bishop Dong´s body was cremated at noon. The ashes were buried at Baiquan Catholic cemetery, in a Wuhan suburb.

Bishop Dong died of lung cancer and complications on May 12. He was 90.

Born on April 1, 1917, Bishop Dong entered the Franciscan order in 1934.

He suspended his seminary studies temporarily in 1938 due to lung disease, and was told he would live for only another three months. "Then I lived ´many more three months´ thereafter," Bishop Dong told UCA News in 1998 in Wuhan.

After he was ordained a priest in 1942, he preached in various parishes. He taught in a Catholic high school 1946-1953 and was then assigned to the cathedral.

On April 13, 1958, he and Father Yuan Wenhua became the first two "self-elect and self-ordain" bishops, of Hankou and Wuchang, respectively.

Before the ordination, several telegrams were sent to the Vatican asking for approval. But the Holy See replied by citing canon law, which says that any bishop ordained without papal mandate, or who ordains such a bishop, incurs automatic excommunication, "reserved to the Apostolic See."

Later, in 1984, Pope John Paul II recognized Bishop Dong as the bishop of Hankou.

On April 30, 2006, Bishop Dong presided at the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ma in Kunming, which was held without papal approval. Bishop He was among the eight other prelates who assisted Bishop Dong in the "illicit" ordination.

Anthony Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, told UCA News on May 14 that Bishop Dong had promoted the development of the China Church. He mentioned in particular that the seminary the bishop established in Wuchang trained young clerics for Hubei and five other provinces in central and southern China.

Bishop Dong became a member of the Chinese People´s Political Consultative Conference, China´s top advisory body, in 1988. In recent years, however, he seldom attended meetings because of his ill health, sources told UCA News.

The State Administration for Religious Affairs announced the bishop´s death on its website. The May 13 notice describes him as an outstanding representative who loved the country and the Church, and also "a close friend of the Communist Party of China."

Anthony Lam Sui-ki, senior researcher of Hong Kong diocese´s Holy Spirit Study Centre, told UCA News on May 14 that Bishop Dong´s death marked the end of an era when certain bishops were forced by the political environment to accept "self-election and self-ordination."

Lam added that the late bishop was a witness to the China Church´s contemporary history. Even though he cooperated with the government, he still faced political persecution during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Lam pointed out.

In 1998 Bishop Dong told UCA News that during the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to work in reform-through-labor farms for more than 10 years.

The death of Bishop Dong came three weeks after Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan of Beijing, the first "self-elect and self-ordain" bishop after the Cultural Revolution ended. Bishop Fu died of lung cancer on April 20.

Among the 51 "self-elect and self-ordain" bishops ordained between 1958 and 1963, only Bishops Thomas Qian Yurong and Anthony Tu Shihua are still alive.

END

(Accompanying photos available at here)

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