ASIA/CHINA - Joseph Lin Yuntuan is the new Auxiliary Bishop of Fuzhou

by Gianni Valente

Fuzhou (Agenzia Fides) – Today, Wednesday 11 June 2025, the feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle, the ‘recognition of the civil effects’ and the taking of possession of the office of 73-year-old Msgr. Joseph Lin Yuntuan, whom the Holy Father, “in the framework of the dialogue regarding the application of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,” appointed on 5 June 2025 as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou (Fujian Province, China), took place.
This is the first appointment regarding a Chinese Bishop by the current Pope, less than a month after the beginning of his Pontificate.

The official recognition of Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Fuzhou was a long-awaited event for the local community. Until now, the authorities and apparatuses under the Chinese government had not recognized Bishop Lin’s episcopal office.
The official ceremony was presided over by Vincent Zhan Silu, Bishop of Mindong, who also participated in the Synod of Bishops Assembly in Rome last October.

During the ceremony, Bishop Lin declared his commitment to the Constitution and his desire to help everyone love the country and the Church, to proclaim the Gospel, and promote the unity of the country in harmony by following the principles of "Sinicization." The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Bishops' Conference, the Patriotic Association, and the Religious Affairs Committee of the Province.

Following the inauguration ceremony, a Holy Mass was celebrated, presided over by Joseph Cai Bingrui, Bishop of Fuzhou. Several Bishops from the dioceses of Fujian Province took part in the concelebration: in addition to Bishop Zhan Silu, Bishop Lin Yuntang and Bishop Wu Yishun of Minbei, along with about 80 priests and more than 200 religious sisters and lay people.

Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, commented on the ceremony held this morning in the Cathedral of Fuzhou:
“We are pleased to learn that today, on the occasion of the taking possession of the Office of Auxiliary Bishop of Fuzhou by His Excellency Monsignor Joseph Lin Yuntuan, his Episcopal Ministry is also recognized for the purposes of civil law. This event constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese Authorities and is an important step in the journey of communion of the Diocese”.

Joseph Lin Yuntuan, according to the Holy See Press Office bulletin, was born in Fuqing (Fujian) on March 12, 1952. From 1979 to 1983 he attended the diocesan seminary of Fuzhou. He was ordained a priest on 9 April 1984. From 1984 to 1994 and again from 1996 to 2002 he held the office of parish priest in various parishes in the diocese. In 1985 he also held the role of teacher in the diocesan seminary. From 1994 to 1996, and then from 2000 to 2003, he held the office of deputy director of the diocesan Economic Commission. At the same time, for several years, he was episcopal delegate. From 2003 to 2007 he held the office of diocesan administrator, while in the subsequent period, until 2013, he assisted the Apostolic Administrator of the circumscription as his delegate. From 2013 to 2016 he then performed the ministry of Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis. He received episcopal ordination on 28 December 2017.

Bishop Joseph Cai Bingrui officially assumed the leadership of the episcopal See of Fuzhou on January 23, having previously served as Bishop of the Diocese of Xiamen. On that day, the Holy See Press Office reported that Pope Francis, “having approved his candidature in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, appointed on 15 January 2025,
Bishop Joseph Cai Bingrui of Fuzhou, "transferring him from the diocese of Xiamen".
Both dioceses are located in the coastal province of Fujian.

During the ceremony, presided over, also on that occasion, by Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu, it was stated that the transfer takes place with the consent of the Bishop of Rome, and the letter of acceptance of the transfer prepared by the "college of Chinese Bishops" was read.

The Diocese of Fuzhou

In recent decades, the ecclesial community of Fuzhou has faced suffering and external pressures that have also fueled internal divisions.
Before Bishop Cai Bingrui's appointment, the episcopal See of Fuzhou had been vacant since April 14, 2023, the day Bishop Peter Lin Jiashan passed away at the age of 88 (see Fides, 14/4/2023).

On June 9, 2020, the Chinese political authorities officially recognized the episcopal ministry of Peter Lin Jiashan. Prior to the official installation act, Archbishop Lin had sent a letter to priests and consecrated women in which, among other things, he reported that he had accepted the recognition of the bodies accountable to the government because his intent was to "seek unity" in the diocese, and after the China-Holy See agreement of 2018 and the "pastoral guidelines" published by the Vatican Dicasteries in 2019, the "conditions" for moving forward on the path of reconciliation were fully realized. Bishop Lin assured that the act of publicly formalizing his episcopal ministry was fully in accordance with the faith confessed by the "one, holy, Catholic and apostolic" Church. Bishop Lin also asked all the baptized to "live in a spirit of unity and communion, following the path of reconciliation through mutual acceptance and forbearance, avoiding attacks and judgments that fuel discord, in order to be one in Jesus Christ". (Agenzia Fides, 11/6/2025)

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