[6] At the time, the Jesuits were the only group of people from Europe given permission to reside in the capital city, on account of their insight into astronomy.

[1] Approximately ninety years later, the church building was obliterated by fire and the remnants that survived were destroyed as a result of the government's anti-Western sentiments and policies.

[9] The new atheistic regime broke off all diplomatic relations with the Holy See two years later,[10] and attempted to eliminate all forms of religion by either seizing or destroying churches and other places of worship.

[12] The church was closed down altogether in 1966—the first year of the Cultural Revolution—and suffered further damage during this period of time until the end of the revolution in 1976.

At the Fourth Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee in September 1979, a key document was tabled that evaluated the entire 30-year period of Communist rule.

At the plenum, party Vice Chairman Ye Jianying declared the Cultural Revolution "an appalling catastrophe" and "the most severe setback to [the] socialist cause since [1949].

"[14] Furthermore, Deng briefly allowed free speech to flourish, thus permitting open and public criticism of the government to take place.

[16] Although no official Vatican statement was issued, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his approval of the appointment, making Li one of the few bishops in China to have the support of both the government and the Holy See.

[17][18] The church of St. Joseph was built in a Romanesque Revival style[8] and is noted for its mixture of European and local Chinese features in its design.

[12] The Church of St. Joseph's appears in Cixin Liu's novel The Three Body Problem, where the three Romanesque vaults mirror the nature of the physics conundrum.