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Gulf Pine Catholic • September 13, 2024 7 The bishops stressed that “we are not left to our own devices” in healing the ravages of environmental exploitation or the ravages of sin on the human con- dition as a whole, since “God is with us.” Rebuilding a broken world “can only happen in continuity with the first edifice, which has Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, the rock that holds every- thing together,” said the bishops. The Eucharist assures us that “Jesus chose to remain with us in a specific and concrete way, in His Body and Blood.” For that reason, “it should be of no surprise that the poor man of Assisi (St. Francis) had a profound reverence and respect for the Body and Blood of the Lord,” said Archbishop Gudziak and Bishop Zaidan. “The ‘root and source’ of St. Francis’ love for peace, poverty and care for creation was Jesus Christ,” they said, referencing the Second Vatican Council’s description of the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life. “The care for creation is constitutive of the Christian life,” they said. “So let us go forth, with hope, to care for all of God’s creation.” Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GinaJesseReina USCCB Care Creation Message From page 6 As ‘fruit’ of dialogue, China recognizes bishop, Vatican says BY JUSTIN MCLELLAN Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY ( CNS ) -- After five years of refusal, the Chinese government has officially rec- ognized Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen as bishop of Tianjin, the Vatican said, in what it called “a positive fruit of the dialogue established over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government.” “The Holy See has learned with satisfaction that today, August 27, Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen has been officially recognized under civil law as bishop of Tianjin (Municipality of Tianjin, People’s Republic of China),” the Vatican said in a statement. Bishop Shi, 95, was ordained coadjutor bishop of Tianjin in 1982 and, in 2019, he succeeded the late Bishop Paul Liu Shuhe as bishop of Tianjin. But he was only recognized as a priest by the Chinese gov- ernment and was placed under house arrest for his refusal to join the government-sanctioned Catholic PatrioticAssociation, which acts as a liaison between registered Catholics and the Chinese government. A Vatican delegation met with Bishop Shi in Tianjin as part of a trip to China in 2022 to negotiate the renewal of the Vatican-China agreement on the appointment of bishops, according to AsiaNews , a Catholic news agency reporting on the church in Asia. The Diocese of Tianjin had been without a state-recognized bishop since 2005. According to the Vatican statement, the diocese has approximately 56,000 Catholics, 21 parishes, 62 priests and “a good number of religious sisters.” In 2018, the Vatican and the government of China signed an agreement outlining procedures for ensuring Catholic bish- ops are elected by the Catholic community in China and approved by the pope before their ordina- tions and installations. At the time, Pope Francis also regularized the position of several bishops who were ordained without Vatican approval. The provisional, two-year agreement was renewed in 2020 and again in 2022, although there have been times when China named or transferred bishops in apparent violation of the accord. Bishop Shi’s recognition follows what appears to be a détente in China-Vatican relations since those violations, marked also by the participation of two Chinese bishops in the Synod of Bishops in Rome last October and the ordinations of three bishops in accordance with the agreement in January. The move of the Chinese government to recognize Bishop Shi occurred shortly before the provisional Vatican-China agreement on bishops is set for renewal in October. “The Vatican Party is committed to continuing a respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party for a productive implementation of the Accord and further development of bilateral relations, with a view to fostering the mission of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people,” the Vatican said in a statement when it announced the renewal of the agreement in 2022. Pray for all those who are suffering from the results of hurricanes, earthquakes, and war, especially Ukraine and Israel. Pray for peace on earth!