Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Xuzhou (Agenzia Fides) - On 22 March Thomas Qian Yurong died. He was 99 years old. He was born in 1914 in the County of Tongshan from a family of ancient Catholic tradition. During the Sino-Japanese War he had saved a badly wounded soldier, carrying him to a church to heal his wounds and to take care of him until he got better. In 1945 he became a priest and on 15 November 1959 he received episcopal ordination. During the Cultural Revolution he was sentenced to reeducation through labor and for 20 years he worked at a chemical plant.
Mgr. Qian is remembered as a man of simple faith, active in the work of the formation of priests and religious women, and in an effort to retrieve the properties of the Church. He had retired from the pastoral ministry in 2011 because of his poor health. He died of a lung infection. The funeral took place on March 28, on Holy Thursday, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the celebration was presided over by His Exc. Mgr. John Wang Renlei, Bishop of Xuzhou.
The Diocese of Xuzhou, located in the northern part of Jiangsu Province, now has about 25,000 faithful, 7 churches, a dozen priests and about 20 religious women. (Agenzia Fides 09/04/2013).
