Zhen Xuebin with Li Shan

The ordination will take place in the Chinese capital on Friday, October 25. It is the first appointment (according to Rome) after the renewal of the Agreement on the election of bishops that will take place in the coming days. The new prelate is 54 years old – only five years younger than Li Shan, who has headed the Beijing Church since 2007. As a seminarian, Zhen Xuebin trained at St. John’s University in the United States, specializing in Vatican II.

Beijing () – Beijing will soon have a coadjutor bishop, Bishop Matteo Zhen Xuebin, 54, who will accompany Bishop Giuseppe Li Shan, bishop who has led the Catholic community of the Chinese capital since 2007. The priests of the diocese Today they received the invitation to the ordination that will take place on Friday, October 25 at 9 a.m. in the Cathedral of San Salvador (Xishiku Church) and will be presided over by Bishop Li Shan. The appointment of Bishop Zhen Xuebin (pictured) will be carried out in agreement with the Holy See and is therefore announced as the first after the renewal of the Provisional Agreement between Beijing and the Holy See on the appointment of bishops , which is expected at this time because the two-year extension signed in 2022 expires on October 22.

The decision to appoint a coadjutor bishop for Beijing is a notable development considering that Msgr. Li Shan – who was appointed before the Agreement that came into force in 2018, but already then with the approval of Rome – is a 59-year-old prelate, just five years older than Zhen Xuebin. According to sources of it was he himself who asked for a curate for health reasons, but also due to the numerous commitments he must fulfill outside of Beijing as president of the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics. On the other hand, Father Zhen Xuebin had long held the position of general secretary and chancellor of the diocese and in practice was in charge of the pastoral governance of the Church of Beijing.

The profile of the new prelate is also interesting. Unlike Li Shan – who was born in the Chinese capital and grew up relating only to the local context, Fr. Zhen Xuebin is a priest originally from the province of Shanxi who in the ’90s was one of the first Chinese seminarians who had the opportunity to train outside the country. Between 1993 and 1998 he studied at St. John’s University, the Vincentian Catholic university in New York State. Here he earned two degrees in Theology and Liturgy, specializing in the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, before returning to Beijing to be ordained a priest. This experience lived outside China was a point of reference for him in the following years, during which he taught at the Beijing seminary and assumed positions of increasing responsibility within the local Church.

Regarding the Agreement between China and the Holy See on the appointment of bishops, the announcement of the renewal should confirm its provisional nature (despite the fact that Beijing insists on making it definitive), although its formulation is kept secret and without variations (conditions that Rome would have wanted to change).

For its part, the site VaticanNews reported yesterday on the speeches given at the Synod by the two bishops of the People’s Republic of China who are participating in the second session of the work and who are still in Rome (unlike last year, when they returned to China when they were still taking place ). The Bishop of Hangzhou, Msgr. Joseph Yang Yongqiang described the path of the Church in China in these terms: “We follow the evangelical spirit of ‘doing everything to everyone’, actively adapt to society, serve it, adhere to the orientation of the sinicization of Catholicism, and preach the Good News. We try to be like ‘light and salt’ for peace in the world and the promotion of a community in which humanity can enjoy a shared destiny; finally, we promote development with different types of projects” . The bishop also “welcomed Catholic communities and religious groups from all countries who wish to visit the Church in China.”

The bishop of Mindong, Bishop Vincenzo Zhan Silu, addressed the issue of inculturation, also referring to the painful historical experience of the Controversy over Chinese rites that began precisely in his diocese in the 17th century. “Being a synodal Church committed to the evangelizing mission – commented the prelate – means respecting and listening to the voices of different stories, cultures and traditions in the path of searching for the ultimate goal of humanity, which is God.” Regarding the issues that the Chinese Church must face with new eyes, Bishop Zhan Silu mentioned “the way to address the challenges that mixed marriages present for family education; or how to adapt to local laws and regulations; or how to resolve the confusion that exists among lay people between popular beliefs and some aspects of traditional culture.