In China, thousands of lepers and their families are being cared for, and are finding hope and love, through the work of a remarkable man. He is Father Luis Ruiz, a Jesuit priest, who treks about the Chinese mainland finding colonies of lepers eking out an existence without the most basic necessities.
To this day, there remains a gut fear of leprosy which often prevents sufferers from receiving adequate medical attention. As well as suffering the physical deformity and sensory deprivation of the disease, lepers are effectively exiled from society, wounded psychologically and emotionally.
Statistics are cold-blooded counters that say nothing of the love that is the stock in trade of the men and women committed to caring for these least of our brethren. Nonetheless, the statistics are impressive: over 8000 patients cared for in 139 centers (the families and children of many of the lepers are also ministered to); 15 roads built, 17 schools, 5 bridges; 7 mobile clinics manned and operated; 25 systems for clean drinking water established; 21 systems for electricity.
TRAGIC CASES
Countless tragic cases can be cited, each with its own unique burden of sadness. Sam Qui Heng, who is now 70, contracted leprosy at the age of six. His mother, who clearly could not cope, began abusing him, calling him names, sometimes hitting him, and always blaming him for his condition. When his younger sister died of an unrelated illness, his mother blamed him for her death. He discovered that she intended to bury him with his sister in a cave but he ran away. Some months later, at the age of seven, begging on the streets, he was found by government authorities and sent to the isolated island leprosarium of Tai Kam. He never left. This little boy and others like him were abandoned to the care of strangers as crippled and wounded as they themselves.
Leprosy can now be healed, but the people in the care of Father Luis, and the men and women working with him, have long been devastated by the disease and ostracized by society as effectively as any leper Christ was likely to come across.
A LETTER FROM A PRIEST
In 1984, Father Luis Ruiz received a letter from a Chinese priest, Father Lino Wong, who had been released from prison. On returning to his parish in Guandong Province, Father Lino had become aware of the appalling living conditions of nearby lepers and he sought Father Luis’ help. The following year Father Luis traveled to the leprosarium on the island of Tai Kam. There were over 200 lepers in that place and their living conditions were very bad − no clean drinking water, no electricity, houses falling apart. Father Luis immediately began providing financial assistance to the lepers and, finally, with the approval of the local government and health authorities, he rebuilt the leprosarium.
Health authorities in other regions saw the work being done in Tai Kam and invited Father Luis to help with their leprosariums. By 1994 he was working full-time with people suffering from leprosy and their families. He says, “Nothing is happier than to make people happy.”
HELPING THE MENTALLY DISABLED
Father Luis was born in 1913, in Asturias, Spain. He joined the Jesuits in 1930. In 1941 he began missionary work in China, was interrupted by the war, and resumed after the war. He was imprisoned when the Communists took control of China and, after a brief period, was expelled from the country.
Still recovering from typhoid contracted in prison, he was told by his Provincial to stay in Macau, at the time, a Portuguese colony, until he was well. He never left. Within a month, he was working with refugees. By the time China reclaimed Macau from Portugal in 1969, it is estimated that Father Luis had been instrumental in sheltering over 30,000 refugees.
Between 1970 and 1976, Father Luis opened and operated Caritas Macau. He established five centers to care for the aged and for young men and women with mental disabilities. During that time, he enlisted the help of the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne, who have since played an important part in caring for the lepers.
A NEW AIDS CENTRE
Father Luis is high in his praise of the Sisters. He says they have made many things possible. By 1994, his work with the lepers was overwhelming and he handed the Caritas operation back to the diocese of Macau so that he could devote himself totally to working with lepers.
In 2005, Father Luis accepted an offer from the government of Hunan Province to set up an HIV/AIDS Centre. With the help of the Sisters, in April 2005, the HIV/AIDS Caring Centre was established in Hongjian situated on the upper Yuan River. Two doctors, who specialize in HIV/AIDS treatment, visit the centre and are on call in case of emergencies.
The organization in Macau that has developed to cope with this work among lepers, and now HIV/AIDS patients, is known as Casa Ricci Social Services. Father Luis is the current Director. The Society of Jesus is planning for the future of the work and Father Luis is being shadowed by three Jesuits, ensuring its continuance.
RELY ON GOD’S HELP
The work is vital. Many of the lepers are without limbs, some are blind, many have wounds that will never heal. Often HIV/AIDS sufferers contract the disease from contaminated medical equipment when they sell their blood to meet the cost of most basic family needs. Father Luis and his Jesuit colleagues, with the Sisters, make it possible for these people to live with dignity and with hope.
Father Luis says, “Our Father in heaven has provided for a people in need. I always had to rely on God’s help. I cannot explain otherwise how we managed economically through all the years.” Local government agencies provide some financial assistance for each patient, for living and medical expenses. Friends of Father Luis from many countries make up the shortfall that keeps the work going. He says, “It is very funny now because I was never worried about the money.” Obviously, God was, and is, because the demands on Father Luis and his colleagues are continuous and increasing.
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(This article is based on reports written by Derek Boylan and Jamie O’Brien who went to China for the Perth Record and on letters received from Father Luis by a group of Sydney supporters.)
