Nicholas Shi Jin Xian

Nicholas Shi Jin Xian OAR (born February 3, 1921 in Henan , People's Republic of China , † September 16, 2009 in Shangqiu , Henan, People's Republic of China) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Shangqui, a diocese of the underground Catholic Church in China. He spent several years in Chinese prisons and forced labor camps for his belief.

Life

Nicholas Shi attended the small seminary of the Spanish Augustinian recollects who settled in Henan, in today's Shangqiu, in 1924. On January 16, 1940, he joined the order of the Augustinian recollects and studied philosophy and Catholic theology . He was ordained a priest on July 29, 1948 . With the establishment of the communist state in the 1950s, the mission station was closed and the members of the order were either expelled or interned in concentration camps. Shi was appointed vicar of the bishop, but shortly afterwards he was banned from any pastoral activity.

He initially worked as an ophthalmologist . However, he was interned in a re-education camp for three years, and later in prison for two years. After his release, he worked underground in pastoral ministry. With the Cultural Revolution of 1979 under Deng Xiaoping he was able to work as an English teacher until he retired.

In 1980 he returned to Shangqui and returned to his pastoral work. He managed to convince the authorities to return the church buildings that had been confiscated in 1948. For years he had negotiated with the civil authorities to obtain permission to form religious communities in his diocese.

On 8 May 1991 he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese Shangqui appointed and received by the archbishop of Xian, Anthony Li Duan , the episcopal ordination .

He communicated with his order members in Latin, English and Spanish.

Web links

• Short biography of Nicholas Shi Jin Xian ( Memento from July 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (Latin)
• Augustinian Bishop Dies in China , Zenit, September 17, 2009