ROME – In what is being cast by the Vatican as a victory for Pope Francis’s China policy, Beijing has officially recognized a 95-year-old prelate as the bishop of the northern diocese of Tianjin, who previously had been subject to long periods in jail and under house arrest for his refusal to join a government-sponsored church body.

Bishop Melchiorre Shi Honghzen was recognized by the government in a ceremony in a local hotel rather than the Tianjin cathedral, by Shi’s choice, in a sign of the essentially civil rather than ecclesiastical nature of the act.

The diocese, which numbers some 56,000 Catholics, had lacked a bishop accepted by both church and state since 2005.

A statement from the Vatican Press Office on Wednesday said that the development “constitutes a positive fruit of the dialogue developed over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government.”

The recognition of Shi, who was named the coadjutor bishop of Tianjin in 1982 and who succeeded to the bishop’s position in 2019, comes just weeks ahead of what is widely expected to be the renewal of a provisional agreement between Rome and Beijing over the appointment of bishops first reached in 2018.

Two years ago, Italian Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, a veteran Vatican diplomat who’s long been involved in Sino-Vatican relations, was able to visit Shi during a trip related to a previous renewal of the Rome-Beijing agreement.  At the time, Celli presented Shi with a pectoral cross in the name of Pope Francis, which was taken as a sign of the pope’s recognition of his episcopal status.

According to Chinese media, the recognition ceremony took place in the presence of Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing, head of the government-sponsored “Patriotic Association” that oversees Catholic affairs in China. Although Li was appointed to his post by the government, he obtained recognition from Pope Benedict XVI.

Media reports suggest that during the ceremony, Shi was required to swear “to uphold the national constitution, to protect the unity and social harmony of China, to love both country and church and to always uphold the direction of Sinicization of Catholicism in China.”

“Sinicization” is a term referring to the assimilation of non-Chinese societies or groups into Chinese culture. It’s generated controversy among critics, including retired Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, who see it as a smokescreen for the government to exercise control over the church.

Asia News, a Catholic media outlet which has specialized in coverage of the church in China, noted Tuesday that by not at the same time announcing the appointment of a coadjutor bishop to assist the 95-year-old Li, the future of the Tianjin diocese seems uncertain despite the new recognition.

In an interview with the Jesuit province of China earlier this month, Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit the country and also voiced admiration for the Chinese church and culture.

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Francis described Chinese Catholics as people “who are faithful, they are faithful. It is a faithful people who have gone through so much and remained faithful.”

“The Chinese are masters of patience, masters of waiting, you have the ‘virus of hope,” the pope said. “It’s a very beautiful thing.”