Joseph Li Jing, 40, was ordained coadjutor bishop of the Ningxia
diocese on Friday, becoming the fifth and last bishop to be
ordained in China this year.
The 95-year-old Bishop of Ningxia, John Liu Jingshan, presided
over the ordination ceremony at his church in Yinchuan, capital of
the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. More than 1,000 people, most of
them Catholics, attended the ceremony.
As one-third of the population of the region is ethnic Hui, who
are Muslims, the Catholic diocese is relatively small, with about
10,000 followers, 12 priests and 14 parishes, according to Liu
Bainian, vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association.
"Li's ordination will help improve church management in the
diocese," Liu said.
Li was elected coadjutor bishop by a unanimous vote from
priests, nuns and representatives of churchgoers from the Ningxia
diocese in October 2006. The decision was approved last month by
the Chinese Catholic Bishops College.
Recognizing that the Catholic Church in Ningxia faces many
challenges to its development, a follower from Yinchuan, surnamed
Wang, said he hoped, "Li will unite Catholic society to spread the
Good News".
According to a rsum provided by the Chinese Catholic society, Li
was born into a traditional Catholic family in Bameng diocese and
went on to graduate from the National Seminary in 1991. In 1998, he
obtained a master's degree in pastoral theology in Germany, two
years after he was ordained a priest.
On his return to China, Li worked at the National Seminary,
serving as spiritual director, dean of studies and deputy rector.
He was transferred to the Ningxia diocese in 2005.
As well as Li, this year has seen the ordination of three
bishops and one other coadjutor for dioceses in Beijing, Guizhou,
Guangzhou and Yichang.
The five new bishops, who are all in their 40s and trained at
theological colleges in the 1980s, have been said to represent the
new, young face of the Catholic Church in China.
Liu said earlier that the country's Catholic community is
speeding up the process of selection and ordination of young
bishops to serve dioceses that have been without bishops for a long
time or to replace older bishops.
The mainland has 5 million Catholics in 97 dioceses, of which 40
do not have bishops.
(China Daily December 22, 2007)