Joseph Fan Zhongliang

Joseph Fan Zhongliang SJ (Chinese范忠良, Pinyin Fan Zhongliang; Josephus Vei Leong Zong SJ, born December 18, 1918 in Shanghai, † March 16, 2014 ) was a Chinese Roman Catholic bishop in the diocese of Shanghai.

Life

Fan was baptized at the age of 14 years and entered the Jesuit order in 1938. In 1951 he was ordained a priest. Together with the Bishop Ignatius Kung Pin- Shanghai Mei he was arrested in 1955 and convicted of counter-revolutionary activities to 20 years in prison in 1958. It was sent to a labor camp in Qinghai Province.

After his release in 1978, he taught at a middle school in Qinghai. The Bishop of Qinghai consecrated him bishop on 27 February 1985. He became Coadjutor Bishop of Shanghai imprisoned, Cardinal Kung.

The security police arrested him repeatedly and searched his home. In 1992, the accounts of the whole underground church were closed along with diocese accounts and personal accounts of the bishop.

From the perspective of the Holy See was Cardinal Kung Diocesan Bishop of Shanghai. After a long imprisonment in China, he emigrated to the United States, where he died in 2000. As the successor to the Pope appointed Joseph Fan Zhongliang.

Appointed in 1988, the Chinese authorities Aloysius Jin Luxian SJ Bishop of Shanghai. The two bishops decided - also due to a change in the political climate - to cooperate. They decided to form a common successor candidates, Joseph Xing Wenzhi, the 2005 Bishop was born on June 28, but disappeared suddenly in late 2011.

After the death of Bishop Jin in April 2013, the former Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqing was Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Shanghai to Vatican sources. In contrast, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association did not recognize further bishop fan, sat Bishop Ma from in December 2012 and looked at the Diocese of Shanghai as vacant.