Commentary 25/01/09 The extraordinary life of China's oldest priest

[성기화 요셉]

Father Joseph Guo Fude, who died on Dec. 30, will continue to inspire with his message of love, sacrifice and service

Published: January 09, 2025 04:19 AM GMT ▾

China’s oldest Catholic priest, Father Joseph Guo Fude, SVD, died in Jining, Shandong province, on Dec. 30, 2024, a few weeks shy of his 105th birthday. (Photo: X)

The death of China’s oldest Catholic priest, Divine Word Father Joseph Guo Fude, just two months short of his 105th birthday, robs the Church of one of its great heroes of the faith and a symbol of the persecuted Church in China.

A man who spent a total of 25 years in prison in China for his faith, Father Guo always refused to compromise with the Chinese Communist Party regime. Despite the brutal conditions of China’s jails, he chose to regard his years behind bars as an opportunity to grow in faith.

On his 100th birthday he wrote: "Looking back on my life, prison became a place where I could reflect, pray and grow spiritually. My imprisonment gave me the strength to face life's challenges and continue to serve God, knowing that every trial was part of His divine plan.

My experience in prison taught me that earthly riches are ephemeral, while faith in God is the only true wealth.”

Father Guo, who died in Jining, Shandong province, on Dec. 30, 2024, was one of just a few surviving priests today to have been ordained before the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

Ordained in 1947 as a priest in the Society of the Divine Word, otherwise known as ‘Verbites,’ Father Guo was born on Feb. 1, 1920, in Shandong, and entered the minor seminary in Yanzhou at the age of 13.

He lived there throughout the Japanese invasion of China, before moving to the major seminary in Daizhuang in 1941. The then Bishop of Yanzhou who ordained him then sent him to complete his studies in Manila.

In 1950, the year after Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party regime had taken over, Father Guo returned to China to begin his priestly ministry amid increasingly harsh repressive conditions under Mao’s dictatorship.

According to his memoirs, he “did not agree to report on other members of the clergy” and “refused to cooperate with the authorities.”

"Father Guo dedicated his entire life to writing a wonderful story of selflessness and love"

His first arrest came in 1959 when he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, accused of subversion against the state.

In 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, Father Guo was arrested again, and charged with being a “foreign spy.” After 12 years, he was released but arrested again in 1982 for evangelization.

After his release in the late 1980s, Father Guo could have opted for a well-deserved peaceful retirement but instead resumed his pastoral ministry in Jining. He taught for several years at a seminary and continued beyond the age of 90 serving Catholic communities.

“The priesthood,” Father Guo noted, “is not a worldly profession, but a divine grace given by God. You must serve the people without being defiled by the worldly spirit; you must love everyone, without seeking anything for yourself; you must first learn to bend down and wash the feet of others, to be worthy to approach the Body and Blood of Christ.”

At his funeral, the current Bishop of Yanzhou, Mgr. John Lu Peisen, reflected on Father Guo’s extraordinary faithfulness, despite such suffering.

“Father Guo dedicated his entire life to writing a wonderful story of selflessness and love, using his life as a pen and time as ink,” he said.

“Today, many remember his deep but warm eyes and the phrase that inspired countless young priests and faithful.”

As the Vatican pursues its agreement with the regime in Beijing over the appointment of bishops, first signed in 2018 and renewed in 2022 and again last year, it would do well to remember the spirit and character of Father Guo.

Pope Francis, who, to his credit, speaks out regularly on many other issues of persecution and injustice in the world, has been silent on the persecution of Christians in China, the genocide of the Uyghurs, the atrocities in Tibet, the crackdown in Hong Kong, the repression of dissidents, lawyers, bloggers, journalists and human rights defenders across China, as well as the barbaric practice of forced organ harvesting and the assault on Falun Gong practitioners.

He has said little about Beijing’s growing threats to Taiwan — one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies and one of the few that retains formal diplomatic ties with the Holy See.

"China’s many political prisoners should also be on the pope’s prayer list"

The death of Father Guo provides the pope with an appropriate opportunity to put that right, and reflect on and pray for China publicly. At the very least he should commemorate Father Guo — perhaps this coming Sunday when he prays the Angelus.

Father Guo’s death may also provide the Holy Father with a long-overdue and much-needed opportunity to pray for the release from prison of Hong Kong’s most prominent Catholic, Jimmy Lai, who has been reportedly denied the right to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion in prison for over a year.

The trial of Lai, aged 77 and a British citizen, continues under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law and he continues to be held in solitary confinement. Despite growing concerns for his health, Lai — a diabetic — is confined to his cell for over 23 hours a day and permitted only 50 minutes of exercise in a confined space. As he reflects on the life and example of Father Guo, Pope Francis should pray for Jimmy Lai.

Pope Francis should also pray for the 45 pro-democracy legislators and activists in Hong Kong sentenced to long prison terms towards the end of last year for peaceful democratic activities, and for the exiled Hong Kong activists who received arrest warrants and bounties on Christmas Eve.

And he should remember the 86-year-old father of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, devout Catholic Martin Lee, whom the regime has silenced. In the most recent example of the regime’s petty vindictiveness, it stripped Lee — one of Hong Kong’s most senior lawyers — of his Justice of Peace title.

China’s many political prisoners should also be on the pope’s prayer list — not least lawyer and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, jailed for reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic, and Protestant pastor Wang Yi, serving a nine-year prison sentence. So too should China’s persecuted Catholic bishops.

And on a purely humanitarian level, Pope Francis should pray for Tibet following the terrible earthquake this week, and offer his solidarity and condolences to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Father Guo’s courageous and long life has much to teach us all. Pope Francis and the Vatican should take this opportunity to pay tribute to him, learn from him and pray — as he would no doubt wish us to — for all the peoples of China and the territories under Beijing’s repressive rule.

May Father Guo rest in peace — and may his uncompromising message of love, sacrifice and service inspire us all.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.