Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - On Thursday 29 June 2006, the emeritus Bishop of the apostolic prefecture of di Tsitsihar (Qiqihar), in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, Bishop Paul Guo Wenzhi, died at the age of 89 after a long illness. Although confined to a wheelchair the Bishop was filled with joy and confidence in God to the very end.
Paul Guo was born to Catholic parents on 11 January 1918 and studied for the priesthood in seminaries at Changchun and then in Beijing. He was ordained in 1948 and appointed and ordained Bishop on 15 May 1989.
In 1954 he was put in prison because of his loyalty to the Catholic Church and the Pope. He was forced to work in Liang Xiang car factory in Beijing for ten years. In 1966 he was sent to work as a farmer in a military camp at Xinjiang. In 1979 he was sent to teach English at a secondary school in Bachunxian. It was only in 1985 that he was allowed to return to Qiqihar where he resumed his pastoral ministry with enthusiasm and energy.
Bishop Guo promoted apostolate and evangelisation in the Prefecture of Qiqihar, and all over the vast province of Heilongjiang, opening a seminary, founding a religious congregation of sisters and giving new life to a Christian community for a long time deprived of religious assistance.
He will be remembered as a man of silence, a faithful and committed bishop who earned respect and esteem of clergy and faithful.
The apostolic prefecture of Qiqihar, for which Bishop Guo was responsible after the reopening of the churches in the 1980s, is rich in vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. There are 25,000 Catholics, 40 young priests, 40 Sisters of the diocesan congregation of Saint Teresa and 20 seminarians.
The faithful were not allowed to celebrate a solemn funeral for their loved Bishop but they are certain that Bishop Guo Wenzhi prays for them and for all who caused him suffering. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 20/7/2006 - Righe 27; Parole 390)
