Chinese Bishop Zhang dies after multiple illnesses

Published: 2005-07-27

HONG KONG (CNS) -- Chinese Bishop Paul Francis Zhang Mingqian of Yichang, a medical doctor who used his earnings to train seminarians, died July 24 at the age of 87. The bishop had suffered from multiple illnesses since 2001. Father Lu Shouwang, diocesan vicar general, said the bishop had been hospitalized since May 1 with diabetes, high blood pressure and other conditions, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. After the bishop's 40-day stay in the hospital, doctors advised church officials to take him home, Father Lu said. Bishop Zhang died at the St. Francis Cathedral compound with priests by his side. Yichang, in Hubei province in central China, is about 920 miles southwest of Beijing.

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