Joseph Liu Yuanren

Joseph Liu Yuanren was a Chinese Catholic prelate who served as [Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing|Archbishop of Nanking] from 1998 to 2005. He also served as vice-president of Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association from 1998 until his death in 2005.
He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Biography

Liu was born in Qidong, Jiangsu, on March 16, 1923, to a Catholic family. His six generations of ancestors were Catholics. After graduating from the Xilei Middle School, he was accepted to the Haimen Catholic College of Literature. He became a priest on June 3, 1953 in Xuhui District of Shanghai.
Liu taught at his alma mater between 1953 and 1958. In 1982 he was a pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Nanjing, Jiangsu. In May 1992 he was appointed as vice-president of the National Seminary of the Chinese Catholic Church.
In December 1993, Lui was named Archbishop of Nanjing without consent of the pope and was excommunicated latae sententiae. In 1998 he was elected president of the Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church in China, president of the National Seminary of the Chinese Catholic Church and vice-president of Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. In 2004 he was elected vice-president of the China Religious Peace Commission.
He died on April 20, 2005.