Vatican News
Fr. Chao was born in 1918 in Chengting, Hebei Province. In 1941, at the age of 23, he entered the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) at Our Lady of Joy Abbey. He made his solemn vows in 1947. He was ordained a priest in 1949, and served as prior of the abbey from 1974 to 1998.
The monk lived through many significant and painful historical events within his monastic community, always courageously bearing witness to his fidelity to the Gospel and the Church. In 1937, the monastery was first occupied by Japanese occupation forces. In 1949, the new Chinese authorities suppressed the monastery. Many monks were arrested, deported, or killed. Fr. Chao fled with several confreres to other regions of China, and later to Canada and the United States. There, at an abbey in Utah, he learned cheese-making techniques.
In the 1950s, he moved to Hong Kong, and in 1956, together with other monks, he built an abbey on Lantau Island, which was later named Our Lady of Joy, in memory of the monastery in Chengting. In the 1980s, he founded a Trappist cheese factory.
In times of trial, in silence, prayer, and work, Fr. Chao remained a witness to total trust in God and fraternal love lived within the community. He lived for 79 years as a monk and 77 years as a priest. He was the oldest Trappist monk in the world.
