Chinese Bishop Placidus Pei Dies at 91 After Lifelong State Scrutiny
Originally a Trappist monk from Hebei, he was not ordained as a priest until 1981, when he was 48 years old — well after the Cultural Revolution.
To avoid detection, he frequently held his underground masses at 2 a.m.
In 1989, Pei survived a violent raid on his temporary church tent at Easter. The raid was so brutal that it caused two deaths and injured more than 300 people. Thirty-two people were arrested. Father Pei evaded capture and continued his clandestine mission for months. He was arrested in September and imprisoned until March 1993.
Following his release, he endured repeated short-term detentions and constant surveillance under state scrutiny.
In 2003, with the Holy See's consent, Bishop Peter Li Hongye ordained him as his coadjutor for the underground Diocese of Luoyang in the neighbouring province of Henan.
Even in his old age and in poor health, local authorities placed people in his village to monitor him.
In 2016, he told Reuters that "there can be no independent [state] Church because that goes against the principles of the Catholic Church,” adding that the Chinese government would have to change or "the pope cannot agree with them".
Following his death, sources within the underground Catholic community spoke to AsiaNews about the prelate: "He once told us, ‘In China, following the right path by believing in God and maintaining a pure faith inevitably leads to persecution. But even if we suffer a little to bear witness to God, all this is still a blessing from Him’."
Picture: AsiaNews.it, #newsJbycaivnzu