Vatican and Beijing agree on new China bishop as ordination fills 20-year vacancy

Joseph Chang Yanfeng was ordained bishop of Chifeng in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Wednesday, highlighting the uneasy diplomatic engagement between Beijing and the Vatican on the sensitive issue of Catholic appointments. According to Vatican News, Pope Leo XIV approved Chang’s appointment on June 15, under the terms of the 2018 provisional agreement between the Holy See and Beijing. The ordination fills a vacancy for the Catholic diocese of Chifeng that had lasted…