Vatican approves new Chinese bishop

Bishop Paolo Xiao Zejiang was ordained in southern China by the country's official Catholic church with the approval of the Vatican Saturday, the Financial Times reported. Xiao's ordination was attended by "underground" bishops and priests, in what is being seen as a tentative step toward between the state-sponsored and underground Catholic churches in China. On Sunday, underground bishop Han Dinxiang died after spending 35 years in prison in Hebei province and was given a secular burial. In June Pope Benedict XVI wrote a letter urging followers of underground and official churches to move beyond decades of animosity and distrust. Diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China and the Vatican were severed in 1951.