An
underground Roman Catholic priest, unlawfully detained by the Chinese
Communists for the last eight years, was released on August 9, 2014, as
reported by AsiaNews.
Political prisoner of conscience, Father Gen-Jun “Joseph” Lu, 52, of the Baoding diocese,
Hebei province, was last seen on February 17, 2006, when he and Father
Yan-Li Guo went to meet another underground priest at the Baoding Train
Station.
As
Lu and Guo walked down a narrow residential byway to the local bus
station, they hugged close to the buildings, when a car speeding down
the lane screeched to a halt, nearly hitting them. The doors popped
open, and several men, shouting and screaming, scrambled out and headed
for the two.
Filled with fear, the priests ran.
But
it was a short chase. In a matter of seconds, the men from the car –
who turned out to be plainclothes police officers from the government’s
Public Security Bureau – captured the two priests, who peacefully
retreated to the waiting unmarked police car, which drove off, parting
the sea of bicycles rolling along the streets in front of them.
Sometime
later, after their arrival at the police station, authorities separated
Lu and Guo. Lu was taken into one direction, Guo another and was soon
released.
At
the time of his abduction by Communist authorities, Lu was the
administrative leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the diocese of
Baoding – an ancient city with a vast legion of underground Catholics
faithful to the Pope.
Born on October 14, 1962, the son of a farmer, Lu was raised in a rural area in Dingxian, a county village about 45 miles
south
of Baoding. After he finished high school, he sought direction in life
and a bit of pocket money, so he enlisted in the People’s Liberation
Army and joined the medical staff as a physician’s assistant.
But at night, Lu had a secret life.
In
the dormitory, while his fellow soldiers slept in their beds around
him, he lay in his own with a set of headphones clamped tightly over his
ears. With one finger on the dial of his radio, he switched back and
forth, listening to several talk radio stations. His favorites: the ones
with Bible readings.
As
soon as he was discharged, he sought out the underground seminary in
his home district, to meet with its priests, with whom he became fast
friends,
In
May 1989, Lu received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Not long after, he
was called upon to lead the faithful in the Baoding Diocese.
For
on October 8, 1997, Communist authorities with the Public Security
Bureau hunted down and arrested the head of Lu’s diocese, Bishop
Zhi-Ming “Jacobus” Su, who has not been officially seen since. If still
alive, he would be in his early 80s.
In
1994, by the time he was 60, Bishop Su had been arrested no fewer than
five times and had already spent almost 25 years in prisons and labor
camps.
Now that Father Lu has been released, when will Bishop Su be freed?
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Originally published in The Remnant Newspaper, Wednesday, August 20, 2014.
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/936-catholic-priest-released-from-chinese-prison