Joseph Li Shan

The Most Reverend Joseph Li Shan
Archbishop of Beijing
Church	Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Beijing
See	Beijing
Predecessor	No immediate predecessor Thomas Tien Ken-sin (1946-1967)
Successor	Incumbent
Other post(s)	Parish priest at St. Joseph's Church
Orders
Consecration	21 September 2007
Rank	Archbishop
Personal details
Born	March 1965
Nationality	Chinese
Denomination	Catholic
Motto	Omnia Omnibus (English:All things to all men)
Coat of arms

Joseph Li Shan (Chinese: 李山; pinyin: Lǐ Shān; born March 1965 in Daxing District, Beijing) is the Catholic Archbishop of Beijing, China. He was consecrated a bishop on 21 September 2007, at age 42 at a ceremony at Nan Tang (South Cathedral) at Xuanwumen. His main consecrator to become bishop was John Fang Xingyao. Before becoming archbishop he served as parish priest of Saint Joseph's Church in Wangfujing.^[1]

He serves as the Vice-President of the state-controlled Chinese Bishops' Conference.^[2]

Biography[]

Li Shan was born on March 1965 in Daxing District, China. His appointment as Archbishop of Beijing was approved by the Vatican. This approval was granted before his ordination, as happened for several other in the early years of the 21st century, unlike others, of an earlier period, of whom Pope Benedict XVI wrote that they, "under the pressure of particular circumstances, have consented to receive episcopal ordination without the pontifical mandate, but have subsequently asked to be received into communion with the Successor of Peter and with their other brothers in the episcopate. The Pope, considering the sincerity of their sentiments and the complexity of the situation, and taking into account the opinion of neighbouring Bishops, by virtue of his proper responsibility as universal Pastor of the Church, has granted them the full and legitimate exercise of episcopal jurisdiction."^[3]

Views[]

Li Shan has spoken publicly in support of the Chinese government's push for Sinicization of religion in China. In 2019 he made an address at the Beijing Catholic Forum for Sinicization of Theology. On the occasion he said:

The Sinicization of Catholicism, requires the upholding of a political self-consciousness and to always improve the political stance of its thinking. Catholicism tells us that love for one's country is the fourth commandment of the decalogue, "Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake." Supporting the leadership of the Communist Party and fervently loving our socialist motherland is the basic premise for upholding our country's direction to Sinicize religion. More than half a century ago, the Catholic Church of China took upon itself to choose its own holy bishops and advanced the Sinicization of the Catholic Church's organizational structure. Employing a system of a meeting of democratic representatives has advanced the Sinicization of the Catholic Church's institutional construction. In the running of theological seminaries, the Sinicization of personnel training has quickened. In the reform of the Chinese language Mass, the Sinicization of the form of the rite has been achieved. Among the construction of the clergy team, the strengthening of the Sinicization of the missionary team is never ending. Sinicization's advancement has obtained plentiful fruits.

^[4]

Activities[]

On July 1st 2021, for celebrating the centenary celebrations of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Bishop Li Shan organized a watch party of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's speech at the bishop's residence in Beijing.^[5]

In September 2021, he served as co-consecrator for 's appointment as the new bishop of Wuhan. The appointment was done within the framework of the Sino-Vatican agreement.^[6]

See also[]

• Joseph Ma Yinglin
• Joseph Liu Xinhong
• Zhan Silu

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph Li Shan.

• http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/peki0.htm