Han Dingxiang

Han Ding Xiang,韩鼎祥, Hán Dǐngxiáng, ( born May 17, 1937 † 9 September 2007) was a Roman Catholic Chinese underground bishop of Yongnian (永年 县/永年 县), Hebei Province.

Life

Han Ding Xiang received the priesthood in 1986 and 1989, the episcopal ordination.

He was arrested by the Chinese government eleven times in his life, interned or placed under house arrest. From 1960 to 1979 he was in a labor camp; overall he has spent 35 years of his life in prison or custody. Most recently, he was placed under arrest in 1999 when he accompanied some nuns to retreat in Shijiazhuang. Since 2005 he has been detained at an unknown location.

Han Ding Xiang allegedly died of complications from lung cancer in a hospital. Immediately after death Hans government authorities had ordered the cremation of the body within a few hours, the ashes had been buried in a public cemetery, the American Cardinal Kung Foundation. The Foundation called on the Vatican to launch an official investigation.