Up-date on religious situation in China

What is going on in the Chinese Church?

A few days ago a normally well-informed friend asked me about the below statement from the Vatican. ‘Does the Church exist there?’ he asked in surprise.

The Church does exist in China, and has quite a bit of freedom. Indeed it has the fastest growing Christian population in the world so if you are interested in the future, read up on it!

There will even be a seminar on ‘Chinese-Irish Common Concerns’ in Trinity College on 14 and 15 December with experts from mainland China participating so avail of the opportunity to up-date!
(This is what he was talking about:)

In a strongly worded statement released Monday (Nov. 7), the Vatican sought to defuse ongoing tensions with China as negotiations continue on a broader agreement on bishop nominations.

“In recent weeks there has been a series of reports regarding some episcopal ordinations conferred without papal mandate,” said Greg Burke, head of the Vatican press office, said in a statement.

“The Holy See has not authorized any ordination nor has it been officially informed of such events,” the statement reads. “Should such episcopal ordinations have occurred, they would constitute a grave violation of canonical norms.”