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Loyal Chinese priest arrested
From AsiaNews with Ucan with my emphases and comments:
Priest arrested in Fujian for organizing winter camp for 300 university students
Fr. John Baptist Luo was arrested on 3 March. Three other priests have been issued arrest warrants, but not yet detained. Another three have to pay a fine. Fr. Luo told AsiaNews: "I’m ready to go to jail. I would be happy to serve as a witness to Christ and follow the example of many holy martyrs. " [OORAH!]
Fuan (AsiaNews/Ucan) – An underground priest from the Diocese of Mindong (Fujian) was arrested for organizing a camp with 300 students. Three other priests who work with him have received an arrest warrant, not yet carried out, a further three were fined up to 500 Yuan (about 50 Euros). Weeks before his arrest, the priest had said: "I would be happy to serve as a witness to Christ and follow the example of many holy martyrs."
Fr. John Baptist Luo, 39, and 6 other priests from the underground church had organized a winter camp for four days with 300 students, divided into two stages, in late January and early February. On 3 February, the public security came to the camp (in the church of Saiqi) and ordered the priests to cancel the event. The priests refused and explained the situation to the students present there, inviting those who were afraid to leave the area and reassuring those who remained that the priests would always be with them. Only 20 of the students left. The next day members of the public security subjected the priests to a long interrogation but did not make any arrests.
In those days, Fr. Luo told AsiaNews that he was "ready to go to jail," that he had "nothing to fear" and that he was "proud to be a Catholic priest, eager to profess his faith with actions." He added: "I would be happy to serve as a witness to Christ and follow the example of many holy martyrs."
Fr. Luo is very active a evangelist, even on the internet,[!] where he has a very popular blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/frluo.
Since March 3 he is in "administrative detention" in a guest-house (prison) of the Fuan government. Three other priests, Fathers Guo Xijin, Miu Yong and Liu Maochun received arrest warrants but so far the police have not carried out the arrests. Three others were penalized to pay 500 yuan, but the faithful say that they prefer to go to jail rather than pay the fine.
The Diocese of Mindong is almost entirely made up of believers of the underground Church: out of 80 thousand Catholics, more than 70 thousand are unofficial, very organized and vibrant, with over 50 priests, 96 nuns and 400 lay catechists. Their bishop is Mgr. Vincent Huang Shoucheng, 86. Mindong also has a patriotic bishop, Mgr. Zhan Silu, who is followed by a few faithful.
Some things do not change.
May the Lord protect and bless these wonderful, brave priests in places where they are persecuted. We cannot imagine what they face because reports of what happens usually do not see the light of day. I clicked on the blog link and wonder if there’s an English page; probably not.
Comment by Sandy — 13 March 2010 @ 4:23 pmWhat an example to God and His Church.
Undoubtedly Father Luo will be subjected to terrible things as a ‘guest’ of the communist authorities. May he be kept by God and his witness most widely known.
Comment by JonM — 13 March 2010 @ 5:01 pmOur Lady of Sheshan, pray for us and for the Church in China.
Comment by dimsum — 13 March 2010 @ 5:34 pmI see his picture on that website (it’s still up in mainland China where I am, at least for now). He’s got sunglasses and a cowboy hat, so he’s got a bit of the Fr. Z dynamic going on, though a biretta would be ideal of course. (In China cowboys and other Western things are “cool” so he’s probably appealing to the youth.) I pray he’ll be able to see the light of day soon and resume his ministry. I’ve met a few Fujian Catholics and they are wonderful people, so I know the priests down there are doing God’s work. God grant a final resolution of the divisions in the Chinese Church as soon as possible, amen! Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary…
Comment by J Kusske — 13 March 2010 @ 6:00 pmThe Chinese government are a parcel of cock jockeys. The Chinese people are very good and humble (for the most part). Good for this good Priest!
Sorry for sounding euro-centric, but their government is contorted in my opinion. They force abortions, imprison dissidents (our First Amendment is on their top-ten funniest jokes of all time list!), yet, until the first part of the twentieth century had the longest continuos government in the world (now it’s the Vatican.)
If the Chinese government ever cashed-in all of the US treasury notes they hold (upwards of two-trillion dollars worth) we would be in a world of hurt. And we know it. Hillary Clinton recently traveled there begging (er, I mean, asking) them to buy more!
Plus, we are competing with them for fuel; it’s a love-hate relationship!
I don’t know much about geopolitics, but I think it’s wise to keep a close eye on China (and this poor, holy priest is, unfortunately, caught in the cross-hairs of a very ambitious, manipulative, cunning, deceitful, regime…)
Comment by Maltese — 13 March 2010 @ 6:29 pmThroughout Christian history and all over the world where the Body of Christ is persecuted, hero’s emerge and the seed of faith is nourished by the blood of martyrs. These priests and faithful suffer terribly under oppressive regimes yet remain courageous and filled with hope. In the meantime, we here in the US have endured a number of our shepherds and pastors over the years remaining silent on issues causing scandal to the Church such as pro-abortion politicians and those who publicly dissent on other fundamental teachings because they are intimidated to speak an unpopular message in public. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always counter-cultural and calls us to transform the hearts and minds of others. We cannot complete our mission of spreading the good news if we are fearful.
How much easier should it be in places where religious freedom is protected under law to speak out against injustice? My prayers for these priests, the faithful in China, and suffering Christians all around the world.
Comment by jt83 — 13 March 2010 @ 8:05 pmIf you go to Father Luo’s website, and watch the second video from the top, is that Father Z who appears at 0:00:24? I’ve never met Father Z, so I can’t be sure…
Comment by frhoisington — 13 March 2010 @ 9:47 pmfrhoisington: it is he.
Comment by David — 13 March 2010 @ 10:05 pmMay Fr. Luo be released from prison unharmed, I offer my prayers through the intercession of St. John the Baptist.
Comment by Dr. Eric — 13 March 2010 @ 10:28 pm“The Chinese government are a parcel of cock jockeys.”
Comment by Timbot2000 — 13 March 2010 @ 10:54 pmNice language for a religious site.
“The Chinese people are very good and humble (for the most part)”
As a 20+ year China hand, I can assure you Chinese people come in all types. Though I’ve noticed some Americans equate “humble” with “know their place (beneath us)”. Hope you do not fall into that category.
“Sorry for sounding euro-centric, but their government is contorted in my opinion. ”
Their government is exactly what you would expect from a non-Christian (pagan) society emerging into a post-Christian neo-atheist modernity. In some ways, insofar as they have preserved their traditional virtues, their society (as distinct from the state) quite excels what passes in morally bankrupt Europe. For a treatment of this phenomenon within a Pagan content I would Refer you to Augustine’s City of God, and his treatment of the rise of the Roman Empire (and no Tertullian was wrong in his conception of Pagan virtue, or epistemological certitude of the impossibility thereof).
“caught in the cross-hairs of a very ambitious, manipulative, cunning, deceitful, regime”
My word to you, if you are European or American is, Previews of Coming Attractions.
If the Chinese government ever cashed-in all of the US treasury notes they hold (upwards of two-trillion dollars worth) we would be in a world of hurt. And we know it. Hillary Clinton recently traveled there begging (er, I mean, asking) them to buy more!
Comment by Maltese
And they would also be in a world of hurt because they would have no one to buy their goods.
Comment by robtbrown — 13 March 2010 @ 11:25 pmWill pray for these dear Priests, that they may gain their freedom. May they receive grace and strength to endure their persecution. May those of us who may never know such trials not take our freedom to worship God for granted.
Comment by wanda — 14 March 2010 @ 5:29 amA bit of a rabbit hole…
It’s a myth of the greedy off-shoring government and corporate leadership that tells us we need China to buy our debt.
Granted that the status quo is unsustainable and that unless there is a serious reset of policy, we (the United States) will have a thorough collapse, any given day a new Congress could declare that debt invalid (it is, our government is totally corrupt.)
The Congress could order the Federal Reserve to purchase the debt in Federal Reserve Notes, or renegotiate it, or tell the communist government to take a hike.
China’s government is as Timbot wrote
and as such has a leadership given to Mammon, much like our corporate/government class. They need us to demand their junk.
If we actually built things in our own communities and didn’t buy the lie of the world that we need a new kitchen every six months, we wouldn’t be subsidizing the misery of millions of Chinese.
Oh, and we would not have an 18-22% unemployment rate.
Comment by JonM — 14 March 2010 @ 11:11 amGoogle.com may not be a Chinese person’s friend, but translate.google.com will give you a rough idea of this brave young priest’s blog contents:
A lot of videos about Catholic topics, a lot of short thoughts about living a Catholic life, a poem by Turgenev in translation, news articles, and an original poem by the priest himself.
Comment by Suburbanbanshee — 14 March 2010 @ 5:08 pm