ASIA/CHINA - A valuable study on health care for Chinese Bishops, nuns and priests

by Marta Zhao

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - On June 10, 2025, Father Peter Li Yu of the Diocese of Qiqihar, in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, died at the age of 56. On May 3, 2025, Father Joseph Xu Cheng of the Diocese of Pingliang, Gansu Province, died at the age of 56 after a brief illness. On April 21, the anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, Father John Yang Guanglin, 55, died of respiratory failure in the Diocese of Baoding (Hebei Province). Two days later, Father Andreas Yu Zhaoming of the Archdiocese of Xi'an died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 61. On June 4, Sister Maria Deng Xiuying of the Congregation of the Mother of the Lord of the Diocese of Yongnian (Handan) in Hebei Province succumbed to an illness at the age of 60.

These are just a few of the names of priests and nuns who died prematurely in the first half of 2025.

The detailed data, published by the Catholic news portal "xinde.org" under the direction of Fr. John Baptist Zhang, provides an overview of the health and physical condition of Chinese bishops, priests, and nuns over the past 35 years, from 1990 to 2025. The data highlights a troubling picture and points to the urgent need for direct action to ensure adequate healthcare for priests and nuns in mainland China.

During the period under review, a total of 115 priests under the age of 65 died from illness or traffic accidents, many of them while en route to their pastoral duties.

Behind these numbers lie stories of young men who lost their lives to illness or sudden misfortune in the prime of their lives, which they had dedicated to the apostolic work of the Church.
These stories include that of Father Song Fusheng of the Diocese of Yulin in Shaanxi Province, who died in his sleep at the age of 33, after only one year and nine months of his priesthood. Father Zhua Jiahuai of the Diocese of Lanzhou (Gansu Province), who died at the age of 31, after only one year and eight months of his priesthood, while Father Li Xiufeng of the Diocese of Baoding died at the age of 37, just 49 days after his ordination. Both died in the same car accident while traveling on dangerous roads to visit distant parishes in the exercise of their priestly ministry. And we cannot forget Peter Wu Junwei, the beloved Bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinjiang/Yuncheng in the Chinese province of Shanxi, who died of a heart attack on May 10, 2022, at the age of 59.

The main causes of premature death among Chinese priests and nuns are heart attacks, cerebral hemorrhages, strokes, and cancer. In rural areas, the risks associated with the need to travel long distances by car due to church duties increase. Father Ambrose Ding Yaohua (51) reports: "I often travel from one parish to another to celebrate Mass. Sometimes it is a whole day, and I have to stop halfway, and in many cases I have to sleep in the open. Even if you might be able to see the village on the other side of the river, the detours to cross the river can take almost a whole day. On several occasions, when I was in a hurry, I fell into streams or overhanging ditches while administering the last rites to the dying, and only thanks to the Lord's protection did I survive."

Such risks are often linked to pastoral work carried out in silence and discretion, with joy and without complaint.

The generations of older priests and nuns born before 1949 currently make up the majority of the clergy and nuns of the Catholic Church in China, and they will be aging in the near future. While the suffering and death of loved ones can be experienced in faith, the death of priests and nuns is still felt as a great loss in their respective parishes, especially when it occurs prematurely due to illness or accident.

In the Catholic Church in China, therefore, increasing attention is being paid to issues related to the health of priests and nuns.

On December 4, 2020, the so-called Chinese Bishops' Conference and the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics sent a "Notice on health care and medical check-ups for priests, nuns, and Lay people working in Church institutions" to all dioceses in the country. The announcement states that dioceses should introduce or improve the system of preventive health check-ups for priests and nuns by providing regular health check-ups every year and by providing human, financial and material resources to transform the currently passive medical treatment into an active one. This aims to ensure early diagnosis of diseases, timely treatment, and disease prevention.

In dioceses with greater economic resources, health monitoring systems for nuns and priests are already common practice. In the Diocese of Haimen, nuns, priests, and lay staff have been undergoing semi-annual medical check-ups for 14 years now. In major cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, health care for church staff is good. Medical checkups are often combined with annual spiritual retreats.
According to the Bishop of Suzhou, Joseph Xu Honggen, "since 2006, the costs of medical care for the clergy and nuns of the Diocese of Suzhou, as well as their social, health, and retirement benefits, have been borne partly by the diocese and partly by the parish and the local administrative authority."

Joseph Gan Junqiu, Bishop of the Diocese of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, emphasizes: "The health and health care of Church personnel are fundamental to the development of the Church. Conducting medical examinations helps to adequately monitor the health of priests and nuns, further enhance their sense of belonging and cohesion, and ensure that they can devote themselves to preaching the Gospel in good physical condition, with energy and serenity, thus contributing to the Church's mission as the salt of the earth and the light of the world."

The health of priests and nuns also affects the conditions associated with pastoral care. According to the study by "xinde.org," the causes of health problems among nuns and priests include excessive pastoral workload, irregular lifestyle and dietary habits, psychological stress, and lack of exercise. These are behaviors that can be changed by entrusting ourselves to the Lord and recognizing the importance of taking care of our own health in order to better serve the Church's mission, while also reducing centralizing practices and creating space for the inclusion of lay people and women in pastoral work in an authentic synodal spirit. (Agenzia Fides, 23/6/2025)

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