China's Catholic church on Friday held a funeral for its most senior clergyman, Bishop Fu Tieshan, who died of illness at the age of 76.

More than 10 bishops, 150 priests and nuns and 1,000 followers from across the country paid their respects at the Babaoshan cemetery in western Beijing.

Fu, elected as bishop of the Beijing diocese in 1979, was the first bishop ordained by the Chinese Catholic church since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

In a statement released after Fu's death, the Communist Party of China (CPC) called Fu a distinguished patriotic religious leader, a well-known social activist and a close friend of the CPC.

Fu was also vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress, vice-president of the Chinese Association for International Understanding, chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, acting chairman of the Bishops Conference of Catholic Church of China and bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2007)