(Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA) — China’s oldest priest has passed away, leaving behind a legacy of brave adherence to the faith of the Catholic Church in the face of persecution.
Father Joseph Guo Fude, SVD, died on Dec. 30, 2024, two months from what would have been his 105th birthday. He was one of the few remaining Catholic priests in China who had been ordained prior to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.
“Father Guo is a symbol of the courageous faith and extraordinary suffering of China’s Catholics,” Benedict Rogers, human rights activist and author of “The China Nexus: Thirty Years in and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny,” told CNA.
Father Guo Fude, SVD. Image courtesy of Catholicism in East Asia.
