Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan

Who is Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan?

Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan was a Chinese Roman Catholic priest and bishop who lived in China during the 20th century. He was born in Siao Wang Ting, China on December 29, 1907. He was ordained a priest on December 22, 1934 in Rome and he shortly thereafter returned to China to work in the diocese of Baoding. He worked in parishes, schools, seminaries, and in the Catholic Relief Agency during 1937-1951. His work took him to several provinces in China.

He was appointed bishop of Baoding diocese on April 12, 1951 and ordained on June 24 of that year. He was consecrated by the archbishop of Hankou, Giuseppe Ferrucio Maurizio Rosà.

The Chinese government sought to control religious activities in the country and in 1957 it instituted the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is a government mandated organization to oversee the Roman Catholic Church in China. The organization required the church to disavow the authority of the pope and conform to the dictates of the government. Bishop Fan, as well as many other Catholics loyal to the successor of Peter, would not renounce the Pope's authority and he voiced criticism of the CCPA.