Anthony Li Duan, 79; Played Key Role in Divided Catholic Church in China

Archbishop Anthony Li Duan, an important figure in China’s divided Catholic Church, died Thursday in the western city of Xian after a two-year battle with liver cancer, an official with China’s state-approved church said. Li was 79.

Li, head of the Xian Diocese, played a major role in the church’s rebirth after severe persecution during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

He was also a strong advocate of reconciliation between the Vatican and China’s officially approved church, which have no formal ties and have repeatedly feuded over the appointment of bishops and other issues.

Li’s death “is a loss to the Xian religious district and is also a loss for the Chinese religious association,” said Liu Bainian, secretary-general of the China Patriotic Catholic Assn.

Li walked a narrow line between fidelity to Rome and the demands of the Catholic association controlled by Liu, a layman responsible for enforcing strict Communist Party controls over the church.

China has about 16 million Catholics, but priests and congregants in underground churches are frequently harassed, fined and sometimes sent to labor camps.

Prickly Beijing-Vatican relations have been aggravated recently by China’s appointment of bishops not approved by the pope. Rome’s insistence that it has the final say on appointments of bishops and Beijing’s refusal to relinquish control are among the thorniest issues dividing the sides.

Arrangements made before Li’s death should forestall a new round of strife, however.

Last year, Anthony Dang Mingyan, 38, was appointed as the diocese’s auxiliary bishop with the pope’s approval, according to the Vatican-affiliated AsiaNews agency.

Li was one of four Chinese bishops invited to a major conference at the Vatican last fall by Pope Benedict XVI. All were barred by the Chinese government from attending.

Under Li’s leadership, the Xian Diocese grew to 60 parishes with 20,000 faithful and had achieved considerable financial independence.

New churches were being built regularly, and the church began extending its reach to social services, running 60 clinics and healthcare centers along with training centers offering courses including theology and computer science.

In an interview last year with the Chinese Catholic newspaper Faith, Li said he wanted to boost the church’s exposure among young people and hoped to build a church in a local high-tech business park.

“Our people lack formation in the faith, and to respond better to the call to mission we need to adopt new methods,” Li was quoted as saying.