China consecrated a US-educated Chinese priest as an assistant bishop with Papal blessing yesterday, just days after Pope Benedict condemned the unilateral ordination of two bishops by Beijing.

The consecration of Father Paul Pei Junmin, 37, was held at a Catholic church in Shenyang, capital of the northeastern province of Liaoning, said Liu Bainian, a vice-chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. The Rome-based AsiaNews service quoted a Vatican source as saying Fr Pei had the Pope's approval and was "an excellent candidate from all points of view". The Vatican was unavailable for comment. Beijing and the Vatican severed ties after the 1949 Communist takeover in China and the subsequent crackdown on religion.

Officially atheist China has since traditionally refused to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops or let Catholics recognise the authority of the Pope, saying it would be interference in its internal affairs.

But in recent years, Beijing and the Holy See - warily exploring the normalisation of ties - came to an understanding that usually allows prospective bishops to seek Vatican approval before taking up posts in the church.

There are some 10 million Catholics in China, divided between an "underground" church loyal to the Holy See and the state-approved church that respects the Pope as a spiritual figurehead but rejects effective Papal control.