HONG KONG, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The leader of Hong Kong's Roman Catholics says Pope Benedict XVI should excommunicate bishops consecrated by the state-sanctioned church in China.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, who serves as a spokesman for the Vatican on the church in China, suggested that in ordinations last month China had defied the church, The Telegraph reported.
"I think people in the underground church and also in the good part of the official church don't expect the Holy See to ratify this ordination easily, and they don't expect the Holy See to absolve these bishops from sanctions," he said.
About 6 million in China are members of the state-sanctioned church, while at least as many people attend underground churches. Bishops of the underground church have been imprisoned, and Zen said two were abducted and forced to attend the recent ordination in an attempt to give it credibility.
The Vatican regards the official church as still in communion, although estranged. For several years, China agreed only to ordain bishops after getting word from Rome that they were acceptable.
