From Vatican Information Service:
Vatican
City, 10 July 2012 (VIS) - Following is the communique released this
morning on the episcopal ordination of the Reverend Joseph Yue Fusheng
in Harbin and the Reverend Thaddeus Ma Daqin as Auxiliary Bishop of the
Diocese of Shanghai.
"With regard to the episcopal ordination of the Reverend Joseph Yue
Fusheng, which took place in Harbin (Province of Heilongjiang) on Friday
6 July 2012, the following is stated:
1) The Reverend Joseph Yue Fusheng, ordained without pontifical mandate
and hence illicitly, has automatically incurred the sanctions laid down
by canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law. Consequently, the Holy See does
not recognize him as Bishop of the Apostolic Administration of Harbin,
and he lacks the authority to govern the priests and the Catholic
community in the Province of Heilongjiang.
The Reverend Yue Fusheng had been informed some time ago that he could
not be approved by the Holy See as an episcopal candidate, and on
several occasions he had been asked not to accept episcopal ordination
without the pontifical mandate.
2) The Bishops who took part in the illicit episcopal ordination and
have exposed themselves to the sanctions laid down by the law of the
Church, must give an account to the Holy See of their participation in
that religious ceremony.
3) Appreciation is due to those priests, consecrated persons and lay
faithful who prayed and fasted for a change of heart in the Reverend Yue
Fusheng, for the holiness of the Bishops and for the unity of the
Church in China, particularly in the Apostolic Administration of Harbin.
4) All Catholics in China, pastors, priests, consecrated persons, and
lay faithful, are called to defend and safeguard that which pertains to
the doctrine and tradition of the Church. Even amid the present
difficulties, they look to the future with faith, comforted by the
certainty that the Church is founded on the rock of Peter and his
Successors.
5) The Apostolic See, trusting in the concrete willingness of the
Government Authorities of China to dialogue with the Holy See, hopes
that the said authorities will not encourage gestures contrary to such
dialogue. Chinese Catholics also wish to see practical steps taken in
this direction, the first among which is the avoidance of illicit
celebrations and episcopal ordinations without pontifical mandate that
cause division and bring suffering to the Catholic communities in China
and the universal Church.
The ordination of the Reverend Thaddeus Ma Daqin as Auxiliary Bishop of
the Diocese of Shanghai on Saturday 7 July 2012 is encouraging and is to
be welcomed. The presence of a bishop who is not in communion with the
Holy Father was inappropriate and shows a lack of consideration for a
lawful episcopal ordination".
Canon 1382 states:
"A bishop who consecrates some one a bishop without a pontifical
mandate and the person who receives the consecration from him incur a
latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See."