Rome Approves of New Chinese Bishop

In some news of Chinese church and state, the state-run Catholic Church of China (the Patriotic Church) has appointed a new Bishop but this time with the actual approval of the Vatican in Rome. The fact that the state is the one appointing the Bishop is nothing new as China's been selecting Bishops on its own for over 50 years. And, up until recently, their selection has ignored the wishes of actual Catholic Church in Rome. However, the appointment of the Rome-approved Joseph Gan Junqui as Bishop of Guangzhou and others recently seem to portray a new direction towards friendlier relations with the Vatican.