A Chinese bishop who ministered secretly to Catholics for decades has died aged 90. Bishop Thomas Zhang Huaixin of Anyang was openly installed in 2004 on the proviso that he did not have to join the state-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Ucanews.com reported that Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin, 45, automatically succeeds him, according to canon law. The young prelate was the first Chinese bishop with dual approval from China and the Vatican. Owing to Bishop Huaixin’s stance, when Bishop Zhang Yinlin was ordained in 2015, all bishops involved in the ceremony were Vatican-approved; there was no pressure to allow an illicitly ordained bishop to take part, as happened at other episcopal ordinations in China. The late bishop was lauded as a teacher and role model for Chinese Catholics. Fr Li Jisheng of Anyang said he taught clergy “that there will be no problem with our clerical life as long as the ledger is clear, having little desire on wealth, and keeping a distance from women”. Bishop Zhang Huaixin was born on May 23, 1925, and was ordained in 1950. He was deemed a “rightist” by the Chinese government in 1958, spending six years in labour camps, and suffered for his faith during the political turmoil that lasted for decades until 1978. After his government rehabilitation in 1980, he was secretly ordained bishop of Anyang the following year and lived and worked without government recognition. In 2004, once he was certain he could accept government recognition without joining the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, he agreed to be openly installed as bishop, AsiaNews reported at the time. Anyang diocese now has 30 priests and 129 nuns from the St Joseph Convent; they serve 50,000 Catholics.