Bishop of Datong ordained in China
Pope Leo XIV appointed Paolo Liu Honggang as Bishop of Datong in Shanxi province on August 10, 2026. The appointment followed approval under the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China. Liu was consecrated as bishop in China on August 31, 2026, after serving in various parish and administrative roles since 1996. His background includes seminary education in Fenyang and Beijing, and he has been diocesan administrator since 2005.
about 1 month ago
Paolo Liu Honggang was ordained bishop of Datong in China’s Shanxi province on August 31, following his appointment by Pope Leo XIV on August 10 under the Vatican-China provisional agreement. His consecration was reported as the third episcopal ordination in China in two months and the sixth during Leo’s pontificate. 1
The Holy See said Liu’s candidacy was approved through the mechanisms established by the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China. Vatican News reported his episcopal consecration without providing additional details about the ceremony. 1
Liu’s appointment and ordination both occurred during Leo XIV’s pontificate. The reports place the event within the continuing implementation of the agreement, which governs the selection and recognition of Catholic bishops in China. 2
Liu was born on November 2, 1970, in Wufuying village near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.
He studied at Fenyang Seminary from 1988 to 1992 and then attended the National Seminary in Beijing, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from 1992 to 1996. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Datong on November 24, 1996. 1
After his ordination, Liu served as parish priest in Zhangguantun, Xubao, and Xihehe between 1996 and 2005. He had been diocesan administrator of Datong since March 15, 2005. 1
The reports identify several other Chinese episcopal appointments or recognitions during Leo’s pontificate:
The reports distinguish between six episcopal consecrations during Leo’s pontificate and six appointments originating under him. One of the six prelates had been ordained in 2017, while two candidates were initially selected by Chinese authorities during the period between Pope Francis’ death and Leo’s election before receiving subsequent papal approval. 2
Liu’s ordination brings to 17 the number of Catholic bishops ordained in China under the provisional agreement, which was first signed in 2018 during Pope Francis’ pontificate. The agreement concerns the selection and recognition of bishops. 2
The full text of the agreement has not been made public. According to publicly known elements described in the reports, the pope retains final authority to accept or reject episcopal candidates, while the Holy See agrees to consult the Chinese government before making episcopal appointments. 2
The agreement was initially renewed every two years. In 2024, the Vatican and China extended it for four years, through 2028. 2
Following Pope Francis’ death and before Leo XIV’s election, Chinese authorities advanced the selection of two bishops during the sede vacante. One involved Shanghai, a diocese that already had a bishop recognized by the Holy See.
Although the selections were initially made unilaterally by Chinese authorities, Leo later formally approved both appointments. The Vatican’s announcements indicated that the cases were ultimately incorporated into the framework of the Holy See-China agreement. 2
The Holy See and China have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1951. Chinese Catholics have historically been divided between the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and an underground community that remained loyal to Rome. 2
How does the Vatican‑China agreement shape episcopal appointments?
The Vatican–China agreement seeks to reconcile China’s civil involvement with the Church’s requirement that bishops remain in communion with the Pope. Its precise procedural terms are confidential, but its practical effect can be summarized as follows.
In Catholic teaching, episcopal appointments are not merely administrative or political decisions. The Pope’s appointment—or authorization—ensures a bishop’s hierarchical communion with the universal Church. Pope Benedict XVI described this as touching “the very heart of the life of the Church.”
The agreement therefore does not transfer the Church’s authority to appoint bishops to the Chinese government. The Holy See has consistently maintained that it should be free to appoint bishops, while recognizing that the Chinese authorities take an interest in those who exercise public leadership of local Catholic communities.
The agreement establishes a framework of stable cooperation between the Holy See and Chinese authorities concerning:
The 2018 Holy See document presents this cooperation as intended to help provide Chinese Catholics with “good pastors,” while emphasizing that bishops should be authentic shepherds rather than government officials managing religious affairs.
In practical terms, this means that candidates may be identified through the Chinese ecclesial context, with consultation involving local Church bodies and civil authorities, while the appointment requires the Pope’s approval and apostolic mandate. The available sources do not disclose the agreement’s exact sequence of nominations, consultations, or possible objections.
The Pope’s role remains decisive in Catholic terms. A bishop must be:
This reflects the deeper ecclesiological principle that a particular Church is fully Catholic only when it exists in communion with the Pope and the College of Bishops. The bishop is a visible principle of unity locally, but the Pope and the episcopal college are constitutive elements of that communion.
Before the agreement, some bishops were ordained with papal approval, while others were ordained without a pontifical mandate. Such ordinations could be sacramentally valid but canonically illegitimate, creating divisions between officially recognized and clandestine Catholic communities. The Church regarded ordination without the Pope’s mandate as a serious wound to ecclesial communion.
The agreement aims to prevent new unauthorized ordinations and to promote the reconciliation of Chinese Catholics under bishops recognized both by the Holy See and, where necessary, by the state. The Holy See described this as a path toward healing past divisions and restoring fuller communion.
The agreement is provisional and limited, not a comprehensive settlement of all Church–state questions. The Holy See itself says that it is “necessarily perfectible” and cannot resolve every existing problem by itself.
Its central tension is therefore clear:
The agreement attempts to manage this tension through cooperation rather than through unilateral appointment by either side. Its success depends not only on the text of the agreement but also on whether both parties respect the Church’s spiritual independence and whether the resulting bishops genuinely serve as pastors faithful to Christ, the Pope, and the Chinese faithful. The Holy See’s stated goal is thus not simply administrative regularity, but bishops who preserve apostolic succession and hierarchical communion while pastorally serving the local Church.