Ignacio Ding Zuyao was ordained this Thursday, October 15, as bishop of Haimen, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The Holy See Press Office reported that Leo XIV had appointed him on August 24, after approving his candidacy within the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.
The ceremony took place in the cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Nantong, where the new bishop had been serving as parish priest since February 2023. According to the diocese, around 400 people attended, including priests, religious sisters, and representatives of the faithful. The Fides agency counts it as the nineteenth ordination under the agreement.
Beijing again omits the Pope
The diocesan statement, released by the official Catholic portal Xinde, follows the pattern of previous consecrations. It notes that Ding Zuyao was elected bishop candidate on May 14, 2026. During the rite, Fr. Yang Yu, secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference recognized by the Chinese authorities, read the approval document issued by that body. There is no reference to Leo XIV, the papal appointment, or the agreement with the Holy See.
The same occurred in September with the ordination of Andrew Ding Yang as archbishop of Chongqing, and in July with that of Joseph Chang Yanfeng in Chifeng. Rome emphasizes the papal approval, while Beijing presents the appointment as an act of the official Catholic bodies.
Vatican information also does not cover the entire ceremony. The Fides report presents Shen Bin only as bishop of Shanghai and emeritus of Haimen. It does not mention his positions in the official bodies or the reading of the approval from the Chinese Bishops’ Conference.
The new bishop is part of those structures: he is vice secretary general of the Jiangsu Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs. The agreement, signed in 2018 under Francis and extended in October 2024 for four years, remains unpublished.
Consecrated by Shen Bin
The principal consecrator was Joseph Shen Bin, bishop of Shanghai, president of the official Bishops’ Conference and vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. He was joined by John Wang Renlei, bishop of Xuzhou and vice president of the official Bishops’ Conference; Joseph Xu Honggen, bishop of Suzhou; Francis Lu Xinping, of Nanjing; and Ignatius Wu Jianlin, auxiliary of Shanghai.
Shen Bin had been bishop of Haimen since 2010, recognized by both Rome and Beijing. On April 4, 2023, the Chinese authorities transferred him to Shanghai, with a letter of appointment signed by the Bishops’ Conference he himself presides over. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni explained at the time that the Holy See had been informed days earlier of the Chinese authorities’ decision. According to Bruni, he learned of the installation through the media. Francis regularized the transfer on July 15, 2023, and since then Haimen had remained vacant.
Wu Jianlin was elected candidate on April 28, 2025, during the vacant see following the death of Francis. Leo XIV approved his candidacy in August of that year, and Shen Bin ordained him on October 15, 2025. Wu has led the Shanghai Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs and has been vice president of the local Patriotic Association. The other auxiliary of the diocese, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, remains confined in the Sheshan seminary since 2012, when he announced he was leaving the Patriotic Association.
Haimen had already experienced an ordination without papal mandate. In 1959, Matthew Yu Chengcai was made bishop of the diocese without Rome’s consent, under the system of self-election and self-consecration.
Formed in Sheshan and Beijing
Ding Zuyao was born in August 1986 in Qidong, Jiangsu. Between 2001 and 2004 he studied at the Jiangsu section of the Sheshan seminary in Shanghai. From 2004 to 2011 he studied Philosophy and Theology at the Beijing Theological Seminary, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree.
He was ordained a priest for Haimen on October 27, 2011. He has served as parish priest in Haimenzhen (2012-2013), Linjiang (2013-2017), and Caojiazhen (2017-2023), a town known as “the Chinese Lisieux” for its devotion to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Since February 2023 he had been parish priest of the cathedral in Nantong.