Thomas Zhao Fengwu (; June 14, 1920 - August 15, 2005) was a Chinese Catholic prelate, verbist, bishop of Yanzhou, prisoner for faith. He was recognized as a legal bishop by both the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and the government of the People's Republic of China. Zhao was proficient in German.

Biography

Zhao was born in

Jining Jining () is a former capital of Shandong. Is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the no ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, on June 14, 1920, to a Catholic family. In 1939 he joined the Higher Seminary in Yanzhou (now Yanzhou District). On April 20, 1945, he was ordained a presbyterate. Before his arrest, he was the parish priest of the cathedral parish in Yanzhou and the director of the hospital run by the diocese. In 1958 he was arrested by the Communist government and sentenced to a forced labor camp, where he worked as an agricultural laborer. He regained his freedom in 1980. After his release, he returned to the pastoral ministry in the diocese of Yanzhou and joined the Congregation of the Word of God. Then he was a lecturer at the Holy Spirit Seminary in

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

. In December 1992, he was elected administrator of the diocese of Yanzhou, and then its bishop. On May 18, 1993, in Jinan, he received the episcopal consecration from the hands of the anti-Bishop of Jinan and the chairman of the

Catholic Patriotic Association The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) is the national organization for Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the Chinese Commun ...

Joseph Zhong Huaide. Co-Consecrators were the Apostolic prefect of Yiduxian Joseph Sun Zhibin and the coadjutor of the anti-bishop Zhoucun Joseph Ma Xuesheng. All three consecrators were ordained without the consent of 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 ...

and thus excommunicated. Zhao was known for the fact that he spent most of his year riding his diocese by motorcycle, visiting diocese. During one such trip in 2005, he was found on a road near

Tengzhou Tengzhou () is a county-level city of Zaozhuang, Shandong province of the People's Republic of China, and is the site of the feudal vassal State of Teng during the Spring and Autumn period. Tengzhou was likely the birthplace of the philosopher ...

in severe condition and soon died. In the funeral mass, which took place on August 19, 2005, 600 people participated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Thomas, Fengwu 1920 births People from Jining 2005 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in China 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in China Bishops of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association