New Laotian cardinal was imprisoned for 3 years

June 30, 2017

One of the new cardinals created by Pope Francis in the June 28 consistory was imprisoned by his nation’s Communist regime for three years.

Cardinal Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, apostolic vicar of Pakse, Laos, preached the Gospel in small villages and prisons without government permission.

Arrested in 1984 for “making propaganda for Jesus,” Cardinal Ling, then 40, was imprisoned “with chains on my arms and my legs.” He believes that his imprisonment “was necessary for my conversion and purification and also for that of others.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis to new cardinals: do not be distracted from the Cross (Catholic Herald)