A grand ceremony was held in a downtown Beijing Catholic church
Friday morning to consecrate Li Shan, vice-chairman of the Beijing
Church Affairs Committee, as new bishop of the Beijing diocese.
Li Shan, was elected bishop by priests and nuns of the Beijing
diocese and representatives of Church followers on July 16, after
his predecessor Michael Fu Tieshan passed away on April 20,
2007.
Li Shan, born in 1965, is also deputy to the Beijing Municipal
People's Congress. His predecessor Fu, elected bishop of the
Beijing diocese in 1979, was the first bishop consecrated by the
Chinese Catholic Church after the government initiated its reform
and opening up policy. The consecration, held at the 400-year-old
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Beijing, was
chaired by the Bishop Fang Xingyao of Linyi diocese and assisted by
bishops of major dioceses in China.
Representatives from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association
and Bishops' Conference of the Chinese Catholic Church, as well as
more than 70 priests and 1000 fellows attended the ceremony.
China has 5 million Catholics under 97 dioceses.
(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2007)