Shanghai bishop leads pilgrimage to Marian shrine (Fides)

Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, installed as bishop of Shanghai in April without Vatican approval, led a pilgrimage of thousands of Catholics to the National Shrine and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan, China’s principal Marian shrine.

The bishop, joined by more than 50 priests, led the faithful in the recitation of the Rosary. He also led the faithful in the communal recitation of Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer for the Church in China, which speaks of the importance of “clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.”

Both the Vatican newspaper and Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, published accounts of the pilgrimage—signaling that the Vatican has acquiesced to Bishop Shen Bin’s illicit transfer to Shanghai. [In 2010, the prelate was ordained bishop of another diocese (Haimen) with the approval of both Pope Benedict and the Chinese government.]