Bishop John Baptist Liu Jingshan remembered

(Vatican Radio) Chinese bishop John Baptist Liu Jingshan passed away this month, at the age of 99. Ordained to the priesthood in 1942, Liu spent nearly two decades in prison (1951-1970), during which he worked as a pig farmer – an occupation by which he continued to maintain himself after his release, until his return to ministry and teaching in 1979. He was appointed to lead the diocese of Yinchuan in 1983, and was ordained bishop in 1993, when he was 80 years old. His diocese - which consisted of two priests and a tiny tract of land suitable for building when he came to it – boasts 15 thousand Catholic faithful, a dozen priests, 14 churches and some twenty women religious from two different congregations.