John Han Dingxiang (; May 17, 1937 – September 9, 2007) was an underground

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop of Yongnian, a division of Hebei province, in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Han was detained for much of his ministry for his loyalty to the Vatican as opposed to the Chinese government-controlled Roman Catholic Church.

Early life

Han Dingxiang was born on May 17, 1937, in Hebei province in northern China. In 1960, Han was sentenced to and served 19 years in a Chinese labor camp during the rule of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

. It is not known whether his sentence was related to religious activity.

Catholic Church

Han was ordained a

priest in 1986. He was elevated by the Vatican to the Bishop of Yongnian Diocese in 1989 just three years later. Han recognized the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

as head of the Chinese Catholic Church, not the government in Beijing. The Chinese government requires that all members of Christian denominations register and worship in state sponsored churches. By law, Christians of all denominations must worship in state-registered churches. Chinese Catholics, such as Han, who recognize the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

as head of the Church must worship in underground churches, often called house churches. The Chinese government allows Chinese Catholics to recognize the

as a spiritual leader. However, the government rejects the notion that the Vatican alone has the authority to appoint bishops. The Chinese government often appoints its own bishops to its state controlled Catholic Church. Bishops appointed secretly by the Vatican must practice underground or risk detention and arrest. Han Dingxiang was detained on eleven separate occasions during his tenure as Bishop of Yongnian. Han last arrest took place in November 1999. Han was reportedly caught leading a religious retreat for Catholic nuns in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei. Han was still under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

or other forms of detention stemming from his 1999 arrest at the time of death in 2007. He had served over eight years and had been kept in several locations, including a housing complex for Chinese police and their families. Han Dingxiang died on September 9, 2007, at a hospital in China while still in police custody. He was being treated for an undisclosed illness, which was reportedly lung cancer. His family had only recently been notified about his poor health. Han was reportedly cremated and buried just six hours after his death. The Cardinal Kung Foundation, a Catholic monitoring group based in the United States, urged the Vatican to investigate Han's death.

References

External links

Los Angeles Times: Pro-Rome Chinese bishop is reported dead
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Dingxiang 1937 births 2007 deaths Chinese prisoners and detainees Deaths from lung cancer in the People's Republic of China 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in China