Liu Bainian was the youngest among more than 200 Catholic representatives to establish the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) in 1957. The priest from East China's Shandong Province, the birthplace of Confucius, was just 24 then. Today, half a century later, Liu is CCPA's vice-president and outspoken defender of the faith in China.

Talking to China Daily, Liu reflects upon Chinese Catholic society's past in a tone tuned with pious obedience for Christ and wisdom.

"Independent selection and ordination of bishops was the only right path for spreading the Gospel in China." Liu Bainian says. Catholicism had been used as "a tool of imperialism" before the founding of New China in 1949. When the People's Republic of China was established, most of the Chinese people welcomed the new social system, but the Vatican issued an order against socialist China.