An abrupt halt to rapprochement between two giant slices of humanity

[rug]

ONLY a year ago, a great diplomatic breakthrough—the exchange of ambassadors between the world’s largest church and the world’s most populous country—seemed to be in the offing. Now the mood between China and the Holy See is as bad as it has been for half a century.

On July 14th China’s state-backed Catholic hierarchy, which the Vatican does not recognise, held a three-hour ceremony to consecrate a bishop in the city of Shantou. This was the third time in eight months that a hierarch had been elevated in defiance of the pope. What gave the latest rite a nasty taste was the reported abduction by police of four Rome-aligned bishops who were then pressed to take part in the ceremony. One dissident bishop was “seen sobbing as he was dragged” from home, according to AsiaNews, a Vatican-linked news service.

Chinese Catholics, who may number up to 12m, are split between adherents of a state-run church and those loyal to the Holy See. The big dispute is over who can name bishops. Recently, a grey area between the camps had emerged, with many prelates recognised by both sides. In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI offered an olive branch by recognising the legitimacy of the Chinese state and stopping the unilateral naming of bishops.

But the Vatican has reacted to this summer’s events by declaring that the new bishop and another promoted in similar circumstances in June were ipso facto excommunicated. China’s religious-affairs agency called the Vatican’s move “unreasonable and rude” given the “ardent Catholic faith” of the new bishops.

http://www.economist.com/node/21526402

[Adsos Letter]

1. "The big dispute is over who can name bishops."

Didn't they fight that one more than once during the medieval period in the west?

[laconicsax]

2. +1

Some things never change.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. They did once in England - the pope ordered an invasion

Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) refused to accept either candidate. Instead, he arranged in 1207 the election of his own friend Stephen Langton (1150-1228)

John was furious at this attempt to undermine his control of the English church. He expelled the monks of Canterbury who had conspired with Innocent III, and refused to allow Langton in the kingdom.

Pope Innocent responded by placing England under Interdict (1208). The interdict suspended Christian services and the administration of sacraments (except baptism, confession, and last rites); the dead were denied Christian burial.
...
John continued to pursue war against Philip for seizing Normandy. He allied with Otto of Brunswick, who became Holy Roman Emperor, Otto IV, in 1209. Like John, Otto was excommunicated by Innocent III (1210); and like John, he feared Philip of France. Innocent III had not simply deposed King John, he had commissioned Philip of France to invade and oust John from his throne. John finally (13 May, 1213) capitulated to the pope, and agreed to be a vassal of the Pope, acknowledging him as overlord of England. In 1214 the pope at last lifted the Interdict.

http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20114%20John%20in%20crisis.htm

[Adsos Letter]

4. I think the struggle over the authority to appoint bishops occurred several times

and in several places in the west, both between secular/religious authority, and within the RC Church itself. I'm trying to recall if the Conciliar Movement involved that subject in its list of objections to the scope of papal authority; guess I'll be doing a bit of reading this evening. :)