2005 - John Gao Kexian

January 24, 2005

Binzhou, Shandong

The 81-year-old Catholic Bishop of the underground Catholic Church in Yantai, John Gao Kexian, died at Binzhou in Shandong Province on January 24, 2005.

Gao was described as “a reserved and timid man.”[1] For years he lived ‘on the run’ from the authorities. He frequently changed locations, dodging arrest and imparting the Word of God to believers and underground seminary students. First arrested in the 1950s, Gao was sentenced to many years in a prison labour camp in Heilongjiang Province.

At the time of Gao’s second arrest in October 1999, it was reported that he was a priest. It was only after his death that the Vatican revealed they had secretly ordained him Bishop of Yantai in 1992, but had decided not to publicly disclose this fact because they didn’t want to add to his persecutions. Bishop Gao was much loved by Catholics in the Yantai Diocese, who number more than 30,000 today.[2]

When the U.S. President George W. Bush visited China in 2002, he urged the Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin to free John Gao Kexian. The Chinese ignored Bush’s request, and instead removed Gao to a secret location in north China and regarded him as a high-profile prisoner. He was allowed no visitors.

The date of Gao’s death was also shrouded in uncertainty. Catholic news agencies and even the Vatican reported his death in September 2004, only to find later that the announcement was premature. Then, several months later on January 24, 2005, news was confirmed that the 81-year-old Gao had died in a hospital in the city of Binzhou, Shandong Province. His body

“was cremated and buried the day following his death in the presence of police officers. No relative or faithful were allowed to attend the event. The Bishop died without any religious comforts and his body was not blessed…. Police refused an autopsy and speedily proceeded to bury him. The bishop’s remains now lie in a cemetery on the outskirts of Gao Miaoli village near Binzhou.”[3]

1. Bernardo Cervellera, “Msgr. Gao Kexian, Martyred Bishop, Killed by Five Years in Prison,” Asia News (September 12, 2004).
2. China Study Journal (Vol.14, No.3, December 1999).
3. “Unofficial Yantai Bishop Gao Confirmed Dead,” Asia News (January 31, 2005).