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SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Archbishop Anthony Li Du'an, an important figure in China's divided Catholic church, died Thursday after a two-year battle with liver cancer, an official with China's state-approved church said. Li was 79.
Li, head of the diocese of the western city of Xi'an, played a major role in the church's rebirth following severe persecution during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.
He was also a strong advocate of reconciliation between the Vatican and China's officially approved church, which have no formal ties and have repeatedly feuded over the appointment of bishops and other issues.
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