Vatican appoints new bishops in Inner Mongolia, China

The Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV has appointed two new bishops in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region under the 2018 provisional agreement with the People’s Republic of China. Francis Xavier Duan Yongkun was named Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Bameng on 15 June and was ordained on 29 July. Born in 1980, Duan studied at Hebei Theological Seminary, Beijing University, and Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan before serving as Vicar General of Bameng.

The Holy See also approved the appointment of Joseph Chang Yanfeng as Bishop of the Diocese of Chifeng, the first bishop there in two decades. Chang, ordained in 2010, previously led the local Catholic Patriotic Association and studied theology in China and South Korea. Both appointments illustrate the ongoing implementation of the provisional Vatican‑China agreement, which allows the Chinese Communist Party a role in selecting Catholic bishops.

These moves are seen as a step toward normalising the Catholic hierarchy in mainland China while navigating the broader tensions between the Vatican and Beijing over religious freedom and minority rights.