Vatican rejects Chinese priest's self-ordination as bishopVATICAN CITY -- The Vatican on Monday denounced the self-ordination of a bishop from China's underground church without papal approval, in a sign some view as an attempt to improve ties with Beijing. Millions of Chinese Catholics are outside the fold of the Communist Party's Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. The Vatican has named some bishops from the group but they are not recognized by Beijing. Catholic media sites said several priests from the underground church had named themselves bishop without the Vatican's blessings, including Paul Dong Guanhu, who also declared he could ordain others. "Should such episcopal ordinations have occurred, they would constitute a grave violation of canonical norms," Burke added.

Source: The China Post November 08, 2016 18:34 UTC