ASIA/CHINA - World Synod of Bishops in October: Who are the two bishops from the People's Republic of China who will partecipate

by Marta Zhao

Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - The list of bishops who will participate in the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops by papal appointment also includes the names of Vincent Zhan Silu and Joseph Yang Yongquiang.
The two bishops are joined by Cardinal Stephen Chow (sj), Bishop of Hong Kong and Bishop Norbert Pu, Bishop of Kiayi (Taiwan).
Outlining the personal profiles of the two bishops of Mainland China, one delves into the unparalleled history of the Chinese Catholic community in recent decades.

VINCENT ZHAN SILU

Vincent Zhan Silu is Bishop of the Diocese of Funing (Mindong for the Chinese government) in the coastal province of Fujian.
Vincent Zhan Silu was born on March 13, 1961 in the city of Ningde (Fujian province) and grew up in a poor Catholic extended family with 10 siblings. In 1978, during the period of new openness desired by Deng Xiaoping, marked by the reopening of churches and seminaries, 17-year-old Vincent, encouraged and moved by his family's testimony of faith, entered the Seminary of Sheshan in the diocese of Shanghai. He was ordained a priest on 24 June 1989 in the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians of Sheshan by Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, who had been ordained bishop without papal mandate. Immediately after his ordination, Vincent Zhan returned to his diocese, where he began his pastoral service as a parish priest. For three years, from 1995 to 1997, he attended courses at the Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong. These were the years when the former British colony once again became part of the People's Republic of China. The Bishop of Hong Kong at the time was Wu. The auxiliary bishops were Joseph Zen Zekiun and John Tong Hon, the latter having long been responsible for the activities of the Holy Spirit Study Centre.
Vincent Zhan Silu was consecrated Bishop of Mingdong on January 6, 2000, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Nantang) in Beijing, which was then a Cathedral. On that feast day, he and four other Chinese priests were consecrated bishops without papal mandate, an event that negatively affected the prospects for dialogue between the Holy See and the Beijing government on the state and problems of the Catholic Church in China.
The canonical legitimation of the exercise of the episcopal office by Vincent Zhan Silu only comes 18 years later, on September 8, 2018, in the context of the negotiations and agreements related to the signing of the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Chinese Bishops (September 22, 2018): "In order to support the proclamation of the Gospel in China," says the 'Note on the Catholic Church in China' published by the Holy See on the day of the signing of the Agreement, Pope Francis has decided to reinstate into full ecclesial communion the remaining 'official' bishops ordained without papal mandate." The list of bishops reinstated into full ecclesial communion also includes the name of Vincent Zhan Silu.
As part of the signing of the Agreement, Pope Francis entrusted Zhan Silu with the leadership of the diocese of Funing/Mindong, while Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin, until then bishop of the same diocese, not recognized by the Chinese government, agreed to take on the office of auxiliary bishop of Funing/Mindong.
The announcement of the pastoral tasks assigned by the Pope to the various bishops, who had originally been ordained without papal mandate and whose canonical status had been regularized before the Agreement, took place in Beijing on December 12, 2018, during a meeting also attended by Bishop Zhan Silu and Bishop Guo Xijin. "It was," according to an article published in February 2019 in L'Osservatore Romano, "a sober ceremony marked by intense ecclesial communion, ending with the prayer of the Our Father and the singing of the Hail Mary to a traditional Chinese melody."
On April 18 of the same year (2019), Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu and Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin celebrated together the Chrism Mass, the rite of Holy Thursday. And on October 28, the feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude, Bishop Zhan Silu ordained two priests (one from Mindong and one from Minbei) in the new cathedral of the diocese, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. It was the first public ordination of priests in 70 years.

The personal profile of Vincent Zhan Silu is characterized by a strong inclination towards intellectual work, which is also expressed in the publication of poetic works, theological essays and spiritual teachings. Among the books he has published are titles such as "The Feast of the Holy Trinity," an essay on Priestly Celibacy, and a "Comparison between Ancestral worship and the Sacrifice of the Catholic Mass."
2024 was a particularly busy year for Bishop Zhan Silu's pastoral activity: in February, during the Chinese New Year, he presided over the inauguration of several new churches and the reopening of others that had been closed for a long time for renovation.
On January 31, 2024, in the parish of Chengguan, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, Bishop Zhan Silu participated as a concelebrant in the liturgy of the episcopal ordination of Peter Wu Yishun, consecrated Bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Shaowu (Minbei) in the coastal province of Fujian, presided over by Joseph Li Shan, Bishop of Beijing. On February 16, he accompanied Bishop Peter Wu to celebrate his first Mass in Ningde, his homeland.
Today, the diocese of Mindong, whose origins date back to the mission of the Spanish Dominicans, has 70,000 faithful, 15 churches, more than a hundred houses of prayer, four homes for the elderly and an orphanage. There are about sixty priests and hundreds of nuns involved in pastoral care.

JOSEPH YANG YONGQUIANG

Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang, who will participate in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops next October by papal appointment, had already participated in the previous Synodal Assembly in October 2023, together with another Chinese bishop from mainland China, Anthony Yao Shen.
Bishop Yang took office on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in the episcopal see of Hangzhou, capital of the Chinese province of Zhejiang. He had been transferred to Hanghzhou from the See of Zhoucun by appointment of Pope Francis.
The Vatican Press Office bulletin, published five days earlier, said: "In the context of the dialogue regarding the application of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, on 12 June 2024, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang as bishop of Hangzhou, Chinese Province of Zhejiang, transferring him from the see of Zhoucun, Chinese Province of Shandong."
On the day of his inauguration in Hangzhou, Joseph Yang said his task will be to guide priests and lay people to promote an integral transmission of the Catholic faith and to proclaim the Gospel in Hangzhou.
Joseph Yang Yongqiang was born on 11 April 1970 in Boxing, Shandong. He carried out his studies in philosophy and theology at the Holy Spirit Seminary of Shandong, and at the seminary of Sheshan in Shanghai. On 5 June 1995 he received priestly ordination. After carrying out the ministry of parish priest, he was sent to further his formation at the National Seminary of Beijing. He subsequently held the office of lecturer at the Holy Spirit Seminary of Shandong. He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Zhoucun, and consecrated on 15 November 2010. On 8 February 2013 he succeeded Bishop Ma Xuesheng. On 12 June 2024, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Hangzhou.
In an exclusive interview with Fides (see Fides, 16/11/2023), Bishop Yang said he felt "truly honored" to have been invited to take part in the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops in Rome and to have had "the opportunity to speak about my journey of faith and at the same time listen to others". In the interview, the bishop described his calling to the priesthood as follows: "I think my vocation comes early in my life because I am from a traditional Catholic family and the faith of the elder in the family has a big influence on me, especially my grandmother. I remember she asked us to read the prayers every night and we were also required to kowtow in front of the statues or the pictures of God, Virgin Mary, St. Joseph or other Saints before going to sleep. Then she herself would continue to recite the prayers until late at night." "My mother," the bishop continued, "once went on a pilgrimage to Mount of Our Lady in Huzhuang. When she came back, she told us that she saw some young seminarians sitting and reading in Jinan West Gate Church, quiet and self-disciplined. She talked about it as her eyes lighted up. Her words were etched into my heart, and a seed of priesthood was planted." In the interview, the new Bishop of Huangzhou also quoted a passage from "De Imitatione Christi" that had inspired him on his journey: "Refrain from unnecessary talk. As much as possible, stay away from the hustle and bustle of people. For even if one deals with it with pure intention, the hustle and bustle of worldly affairs is a great obstacle, because one is soon polluted by vanities and reduced to slavery. More than once I wish I had kept quiet and not gone out among the people."
The diocese of Hanghzou is home to 30,000 Catholics. The bishopric was vacant until the appointment of Bishop Yang
(Agenzia Fides, 16/09/2024)

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