Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hangzhou (Agenzia Fides) - Msgr. Joseph Yang Yongquiang, new bishop of Hangzhou in the Chinese province of Zhejiang appointed by Pope Francis on June 12, 2024, recounted his experience during his participation in the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was held at the Vatican in October 2023. Welcoming the delegation from the diocese of Nanchong (province of Sichuan), Bishop Joseph Yang underlined in particular that the experience lived in Rome was that of “synodality, understood as “walking together on the same path.” A dynamic which also recalls “the way in which the Catholic Church is managed in China”. The Bishop also hoped that the ecclesial communities of Hangzhou and southern China would work together for the development of the Church and the growth of Catholicism in China.
The Nanchong delegation was made up of 25 members, including 15 priests and 7 nuns. Led by Joseph Chen Gongao, Bishop of Nanchong, the delegation wished to congratulate Bishop Yang on his recent appointment and spend a moment of communion with him, listening together to the Word of God, sharing the Eucharist and praying together. During Sunday Mass on July 14, in a church full of faithful, they also prayed for the stability and prosperity of the homeland and for the fruitfulness of the proclamation of the Gospel in China.
The announcement of the appointment of Joseph Yang Yongquiang as the new Bishop of Hangzhou was made by the bulletin of the Vatican Press Office on Saturday June 22, 2024. "As part of the dialogue on the application of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, we read in the text published that day by the Vatican Press Office, the Holy Father appointed, on June 12, 2024, Msgr. Joseph Yang Yongqiang Bishop of Hangzhou (province of Zhejiang), by transferring him from the seat of Zhoucun (Chinese province of Shandong)."
In October 2023, Msgr Yang Yongqiang took part, with the other Bishop of Mainland China, Msgr. Anthony Yao Shen, of the diocese of Jining/Wumeng, in the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the theme "For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission".
In an exclusive interview given to Fides (see Fides, 16/11/2023), Msgr. Yang said to be "honored" to have been invited to participate in the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome, and to have thus had "the opportunity to share my journey of faith while listening to that of others". (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 18/7/2024)
