China: consecration in Chifeng, Leo XIV moves forward on the line inherited from Francis

The Holy See announces the consecration of the new bishop of Chifeng; Vatican News confirms, LifeSiteNews contests.

The fact

On July 22, 2026, Vatican News announced the episcopal consecration of Bishop Giuseppe Chang Yanfeng as the new bishop of the diocese of Chifeng, in Inner Mongolia. Appointed by Leo XIV on June 15, 2026 after approval of his candidacy within the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, Bishop Chang had already been in charge as diocesan administrator since 2021. The Provisional Agreement was signed on September 22, 2018 and extended several times since then, the last extension having taken place in October 2024 for four years. LifeSiteNews reacted to the consecration by qualifying the official Chinese Church, the Patriotic Association, as "false Catholicism," reigniting the controversy. We had reported a few weeks ago on the increased pressures on the faithful Church eight years after the signing.

Our reading

This consecration is the first Chinese episcopal act of Leo XIV, which makes it a signal. The new Pope continues the diplomatic line of Francis, but he will have to account for it in light of pastoral fruits: since 2018, several bishops of the underground Church have been forced to join the Patriotic Association, and the Protestant pastor Ezra Jin Mingri was only released in July 2026 after months of detention. The Catechism at number 895 recalls that episcopal jurisdiction is ordinary and immediate, although its exercise is regulated by the supreme authority of the Church. This is precisely what the agreement seeks to safeguard, at the cost of a constant compromise on the mode of designation. The question remains open: is this price pastorally bearable?

To ponder

Pray for the bishops and priests of the underground Church, who have borne for more than seventy years the weight of a costly fidelity. According to the 2026 World Watch List of Open Doors, China remains in 15th place in persecution.