His ordination took place at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral at Taizhou city on Jul 10, attended by 500 people, ucanews.com reports.
It was conducted by Bishop Joseph Li Mingshu of Qingdao with Bishops Joseph Zhao Fengchang of Liaocheng, Joseph Xu Honggen of Suzhou and Joseph Han Yingjin of Sanyuan, who are all in communion with the pope.
The open community now has one bishop, four priests, eight nuns and three deacons.
Bishop Xu becomes only the second bishop of this diocese in Zhejiang province, filling a position that has remained vacant since Bishop Joseph Hou Jo-shan, one of China’s first ever native bishops, died in 1962.
Several Catholics and priests who attended the ceremony expressed the hope that the new bishop would work to develop the Church.
“The diocese has 25 churches and mission points, but only about 3,500 regular churchgoers,” one said. “Priority should be given to spreading the Gospel.”
For the full news report, please refer to the print edition of the CatholicNews.
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