ASIA/CHINA - Consecration of Bishop of Jiangmen

Jiangmen (Agenzia Fides) – The Episcopal Ordination of Paolo Liang Jiansen was held on Wednesday, 30 March in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Jiangmen, Guangdong province. Bishop Jiansen is 46 years old and he has been a priest for 19 years. He was approved by the Holy See to the Office for Bishops in the Diocese of Jiangmen (Kongmoon). The Chinese authorities authorised his ordination.
The Solemn Mass was presided at by Archbishop Joseph Gan Junqiu of Guangzhou, assisted by Bishop Joseph Liao Hongqing of Meixian and Bishop Paul Su Yongda of Beihai. Also taking part in the celebration were Bishop John Baptist Tan Yanquan of Nannning, Bishop John Baptist Suguang Nanchang Li Bin Shen and Bishop Joseph Haimen. All these Bishops are in communion with the Holy See and recognised by the Government. Bishop Paul Liang said he was happy to have been ordained by his seminary classmates in a celebration that took place very calmly.
The newly ordained Bishop's mother and relative attended the celebration, along with more than a thousand faithful from his diocese or from the provinces of Guangdong and Shanxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macao.
Bishop Liang was born May 6, 1964. Having completed his studies in the regional seminar in Wuhan, in Hubei, he was ordained a priest on December 8, 1991. He served the diocese as the first parish priest (1995-2004) and then as Vicar General of his predecessor, who died in 2007.
The Diocese of Jiangmen currently has a dozen priests, some 30 sisters and about 20,000 faithful throughout 20 parishes. It has a special place in the history of the Church in China: Francis Xavier died in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan, which is now part of the diocese. The shrine, which commemorates the death of the holy Jesuit missionary, is now a place of pilgrimage. To the north of the diocese is the city of Zhaoqing, where Father Matteo Ricci spent three years, built a church and prepared for the next mission on the continent. Bishop Liang intends to look to the spirit and work of these two great Jesuits for his work in evangelisation. “My cross is heavy,” he said, “but I trust in the Lord with regards my episcopal ministry. One of my priorities will be to strengthen the spiritual formation of priests and sisters and to start formation courses fpr the laity as soon as possible.” (Agenzia Fides 8/04/2011)