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by Fr. Michael Kelly, S.J.

Another of the greats of the Church of Asia has gone to his rest: Luis Ruiz, SJ.

Fr. Luis Ruiz SJ. 1913-2011

Fr. Luis Ruiz SJ. 1913-2011

He wasn’t a great intellectual whose writings illuminated the minds of many, like Karl Rahner; he wasn’t a public figure whose interventions shaped the destiny of nations, like Bishop Cisco Claver in the EDSA event in Manila in the 80s. He was giant because of the size of his heart- it was as big as a horse.

Coming to Macau as a refugee from China himself, he brought solace, comfort, food and shelter to thousands escaping persecution when Mao finally put paid to the corrupt and failed rule of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek.

Our report of his death in ucanews.com neglects to mention something of which Luis was very proud. As a Jesuit student for the priesthood and as part of his normal Jesuit training, he was first sent from Spain to Cuba, to teach in the Jesuit College in Havana. He loved it and was torn when asked to go to do his theological studies prior to ordination in Shanghai. He loved Cuba and the students he taught. He had a special affection for one who was the leading student of his year – President of the Sodality of Our Lady, champion of the baseball team and chief student officer in the school’s cadet corps: Fidel Castro. He found Fidel a most attractive young man and was proud of what he had achieved in ridding Cuba of the detested and irredeemably corrupt Battista regime.

But the genius of Luis was the way he reinvented himself as the carer for succeeding generations of those who were neglected and in need – the physically and intellectually disabled, those suffering from chronic diseases that separated them from families and communities with Hanson’s disease (leprosy) and in recent decades those with HIV Aids. Macau. the size of a postage stamp (12 square miles) and asleep under the benign neglect of its Portuguese colonial rulers for 50 of Luis’ 60 years there, was a hive of creativity and a base for extensive outreach to those in need, far distant from its borders.

Mao’s China was full of propaganda; the Chinese spin doctors claimed it was the first civilisation to have no gambling, no prostitution and to have eliminated many of the diseases that have plagued humanity since before history was recorded.

Prime among these was Hanson’s disease (Leprosy). With the wave of a magic wand, the Great Helmsman of the People (also known as Mao) had swept away that particular pestilence. Not so, of course.

Against all odds, it was Luis Ruiz’s extraordinary blend of dogged perseverance and utter sincerity that managed to have comfort and care brought to those suffering the disease in remote and secluded parts of southern China. In the face of official denial, the fear of losing face if the reality were exposed and his being a Catholic priest in very Communist China, Luis broke down all barriers to addressing the needs of the ill.

But an equally great challenge awaited him in the 80s and 90s – HIV/AIDS. The disease was officially non-existent in oh-so-pure China and therefore not to be acknowledged and treated. Not so for Luis and as our story reports, his work reached to many hundreds of centres for the length and breadth of China.

It was St Francis of Assisi who is alleged to have said “preach the Good News always. Use words if necessary.” Luis knew what that meant – he heard the Word of God and did it.

“Good night sweet prince, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest” (from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark)