Joseph Gao Hongxiao (; 1945 – 19 December 2022) was a Chinese Catholic prelate who was Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaifeng The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaifeng ( la, Chaefomen(sis), ) is an archdiocese located in the city of Kaifeng in Henan province, China. History * September 21, 1916: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Honan from the Apostolic Vi ...

from 2007.

Biography

Gao Hongxiao became a Catholic priest within the

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, and served in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fengxiang The Diocese of Fengxiang ( la, Fomsiamen(sis), ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese if the Catholic Church located in Fengxiang (Shaanxi), China. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropoli ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

Province. On October 27, 2000, another

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, Antonius Zong Changfeng of

Zhouzhi Zhouzhi County () is a county under the administration of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, China. It is the most spacious but least densely populated county-level division of Xi'an, and also contains the city's southernmost and westernmost ...

(also in Shaanxi), was ordained a

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

of Kaifeng, but as the Communist government objected, he did not move to Kaifeng. Thus, he had to continue to work, as if he were a regular priest in Zhouzhi. Since he belonged to the

underground church The term underground church () is used to refer to Chinese Catholic churches in the People's Republic of China which have chosen not to associate with the state-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association, they are also called ''loyal church'' (). U ...

, he also had to stay hidden from time to time. Gao also had to stay hidden. On September 23, 2007, John Baptist Liang Xisheng, died at the age of 84, and Gao automatically became the Bishop. Gao died on 19 December 2022, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph Gao, Hongxiao 1945 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in China People from Kaifeng