Beijing bishop given funeral for state leader

Published: 2007-04-27

BEIJING (CNS) -- The Chinese bishop who served in Beijing for more than 25 years was given a funeral for a state leader. A three-part funeral was held April 27 at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery for Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan, 76, who died of lung cancer April 20. The cemetery is the main burial ground for revolutionary heroes and high government officials. At the time of his death, Bishop Fu was a vice chairman of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, with the rank of a state leader. He also was chairman of the government-approved Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and acting president of the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China. Funeral services were held in three sessions. The first, beginning at 8:30 a.m., was a memorial service only for members of the National People's Congress, including its chairman, Wu Bangguo. Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other high-ranking state and social organization leaders attended the second session. The third session, a Catholic prayer service led by Bishop Pius Jin Peixian of Liaoning, began at 10:30. Fourteen other bishops from various dioceses, about 150 priests and some 2,000 nuns, seminarians and laypeople attended the liturgy.

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