MOURNING FOR DEATH OF BISHOP JOHN CHEN SHIZHONG

Vatican City, 8 January 2013 (VIS) - Bishop John Chen Shizhong of Yibin in the Sichuan province of mainland China died on 16 December 2012 at the age of 95. The prelate, ordained to the priesthood in 1947, had been jailed in the 1950's, during the Cultural Revolution, and condemned to forced labour. In 1985 he received episcopal ordination and in 1988 became rector of the regional seminary of Sichan, a position that he had to leave the following year because of his health. He then returned to the diocese of Yibin where he was bishop for over 20 years.

Remembering Bishop Chen Shizhong, his formation work with priests and religious is foremost. Thanks to him, during the 1980's and 1990's, vocations to the priesthood and religious life returned throughout the province. He ordained more than 30 priests, thus guaranteeing the Church's survival and development in a region marked by a severe Maoism and in which the harshness and the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution strongly characterized society and the life of the Church.

The prelate's funeral took place on 18 December in the cathedral of Yibin and was attended by many of the diocese's faithful, priests, and religious. The bishop's remains have been buried in the Catholic cemetery near the diocesan seminary.