Holy Spirit Study Centre - Information - China Church

Fr. Li Chang (1913-1981) was a Hakka from the Diocese Jiaying (Meixian) in northeastern Guangdong Province. His younger cousin, Li Daoming, begins the story in 1946, when Fr. Li returned from Rome with a doctorate in theology to teach at the seminary. But teaching, spiritual direction and parish work came under increasing pressure after 1949. Eventually he was imprisoned as a counter-revolutionary for failing to cooperate with the new government. He did 24 years of hard labor. Finally getting his church back before Christmas 1979, Fr. Li worked and preached to exhaustion during his final year and a half.