Obituary: Bishop Liu Difen

Bishop Liu Difen, died Kuangcheng, China, aged 80. The third Chinese Catholic bishop loyal to the Vatican to die in custody within the space of a year. Although he died on 14 November 1992, confirmation of his death has only now reached the outside world. Ordained in 1939, he was arrested in 1951 for refusing to join the government-sponsored Catholic Patriotic Association. With a break during the Cultural Revolution he worked as a doctor until retirement in 1984. In 1989 he was secretly consecrated Bishop of Anguo diocese. In December 1990 he was arrested during the widespread crackdown on the underground Catholic Church. Public security officials refused him the last rites. When his body was returned, signs of torture were found.