Shanghai's 'underground' Catholic leader dies

[rug]

Published: 17 Mar 2014 at 19.49

The head of the underground Catholic Church in Shanghai, Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, has died, a US-based group said, as it urged China's Communist government to allow greater religious freedom.

Fan died at home on Sunday after several days of high fever, said the US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation, which seeks to promote the Roman Catholic Church in China. It gave his age as 97 though other sources said he was 96.

He was held under house arrest for much of the last two decades, the group said.

China has a state-controlled Catholic Church as well as an "underground" church, though worshippers typically move between the two.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/400332/shanghai-underground-catholic-leader-dies

[shenmue]

1. Rest in peace

[rug]

2. If he was born in China in 1906 or 1907, imagine the things he saw.