HOHHOT, China (UCAN) -- The diocese of Hohhot in northern China welcomed a new bishop on April 18 after five years without one. Bishop Paul Meng Qinglu, 47, was ordained the seventh bishop of Hohhot, based in the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He was the first bishop ordained in mainland China since December 2007. During the ordination at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Bishop Meng lay prostrate before the altar as the congregation prayed the Litany of the Saints. He then knelt in front of the main celebrant, Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning, to receive the miter, episcopal ring and crosier. Concelebrating prelates included Bishops John Liu Shigong of Jining and Matthias Du Jiang of Bameng, both from Inner Mongolia, and Bishop Joseph Li Jing of Ningxia, who conducted a three-day retreat for Bishop Meng right before the ordination. Some 80 priests from Hohhot and four other dioceses in Inner Mongolia, who were mostly his classmates and students from the seminary, also concelebrated the Mass. Local Catholics said all the 500 tickets for seats in the church and 2,000 tickets for places in the courtyard were taken up. Many laypeople could not enter the church compound to attend the ordination Mass. Bishop Meng told UCA News April 19 that since the diocese has had no bishop for five years, the priests have become used to managing their parishes in their own way.
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