Chinese bishops appointed by Chinese communist government without the pope’s agreement:
1. Bishop Joseph Shen Bin (transfer/installation to Shanghai)
Date of unilateral action: Installed/transferred as Bishop of Shanghai on or around 4 April 2023 (he had previously been Bishop of Haimen).
The Vatican was informed only days earlier and learned of the actual installation from media. Shanghai had been vacant for years.
Later ratification: Pope Francis formally named him Bishop of Shanghai on 15 July 2023 to “remedy the canonical irregularity” and for the greater good of the diocese and fruitful exercise of pastoral ministry. Cardinal Parolin described it as acceding to the government’s action despite reservations.
2. Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wu Jianlin (Wu Jianlin) – Shanghai
Date of unilateral action: Elected/selected as auxiliary bishop of Shanghai around 28 April 2025 (during the sede vacante period after Pope Francis’s death on 21 April 2025).
Later ratification: Pope Leo XIV appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai on 11 August 2025 within the framework of the provisional agreement. Episcopal ordination took place on 15 October 2025.
3. Bishop Francis Li Jianlin (Li Jianlin) – Xinxiang (Henan)
Date of unilateral action: Elected bishop of Xinxiang (Apostolic Prefecture/Diocese) around 30 April 2025 (again during sede vacante).
Later ratification: Pope Leo XIV appointed him Bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang on 11 August 2025 (accepting the resignation of the previous bishop). Ordination took place on 5 December 2025.
4. Additional / Borderline Case
Bishop John Peng Weizhao (Giovanni Peng Weizhao) — Already a legitimately appointed bishop (secretly ordained with papal mandate by Pope Francis for the Diocese of Yujiang in 2014).
On 24 November 2022, Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association authorities installed him as “auxiliary bishop of Jiangxi” (a territorial division not recognized as a diocese by the Vatican) in a ceremony in Nanchang.
Vatican reaction: Statement of “surprise and regret” on 26 November 2022; the Holy See learned of the installation without prior knowledge or involvement and viewed it as contrary to the spirit of the 2018 agreement.
Clearly, the Bergoglians thinks its OK to be a communist bishop but totally unacceptable to be a traditional Catholic bishop