Bishop Ma is the first government-approved bishop in recent years to announce publicly that he would give up his duties with the Catholic Patriotic Association, UCA News reported.
Chinese officials "looked very serious when walking out of the cathedral," one source said, adding that three tables reserved for government officials at the banquet following the ordination were left empty.
Late July 8, priests and nuns of the Shanghai Diocese received a text message from Bishop Ma saying he felt "mentally and physically exhausted" after his ordination. The message said Shanghai Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian agreed to let him make a personal retreat at the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan.
A Shanghai priest said Bishop Ma was having a rough time.
"It is painful, but is good for the conscience of the church in China. His witness is an encouragement for our Catholics, so we can only pray for him," the priest said.
Across China, many Catholics called for prayers and fasting for Bishop Ma July 9, the feast of Chinese Martyrs.
Anthony Lam Sui-ki, senior researcher of the Hong Kong diocese's Holy Spirit Study Center, criticized the government's interference in Bishop Ma's right to participate in religious activities.
"He has set a good example for other bishops in the country that they should be a spiritual leader for their priests, nuns and laypeople rather than (be) political leaders holding CPA posts," said another church observer.
Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 letter to Catholics in China stated that the aim of the patriotic association in upholding the independence of the church in China was incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
By July 9, government-sanctioned church authorities had not yet published any report on Bishop Ma's ordination, although they published reports of an illicit episcopal ordination July 6 in Harbin.
Father Joseph Yue Fusheng was ordained bishop of Harbin July 6 without papal mandate following an acrimonious exchange of notifications between the Vatican and Beijing on the issue of illicit ordinations.
Five Vatican-approved bishops took part in the rite, held at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province. Two other Vatican-approved prelates who were invited to the ceremony did not attend, citing illnesses, but sent messages of apology and congratulation.
On July 3, the Vatican issued a strongly worded statement warning Chinese authorities the ordination of Father Yue violated church law, jeopardized the future of the Catholic Church in China and would incur the automatic excommunication of any prelates taking part in the rite.
The State Administration for Religious Affairs responded July 4, calling the warnings "outrageous and shocking" and saying self-election and self-ordination would continue despite the Vatican's position on the matter.
As of July 9 the Vatican had not issued reaction to either ordination.
In 2011, the Vatican said bishops' ordinations that are not authorized by the pope generally bring the penalty of automatic excommunication, but there can be mitigating circumstances -- including fear of reprisal, necessity or serious inconvenience.
In recent years, because of government requirements, the priests, nuns and laypeople of Chinese dioceses have elected their new bishops, and most of those elected have applied to the Holy See for approval. When such approval was given, it often was announced at the episcopal ordination.