Donning a black fishing hat and red sweater, Father Aloisius Gutheinz looked like a typical grandfather repeating tales of his fishing expeditions back in the good old days.
But instead, the silver-haired man with a permanent smile across his face throughout his two-hour interview with the Taipei Times had a far more sober tale to tell about the lives of leprosy sufferers in Taiwan.
Founder of the Chinese Leprosy Service (CLS), Gutheinz, also know as Father Gu Han-song (谷寒松), said during his 30-year association with those afflicted with the degenerative condition, not once did he fear catching the disease that often leaves its victims deformed.
“Don’t ever say that leprosy is a punishment. These people are human beings who are equally valued in the eyes of God,” he said.
Gutheinz said that God created an imperfect world, “so we can have a chance to learn how to love the way God loves. We wouldn’t have to the chance to love different type of people if the world was perfect.”
But even Gutheinz, who answered the call to become a priest when he was a high school sophomore, had to wrangle with his share of struggles when he first met people with leprosy, or Hansen’s Disease, in September 1975, 14 years after he arrived in Taiwan.
“An Italian father took me to visit a place called Yi-yuan (怡園). I had no idea what it was before I went there. When I got there, I saw 12 people [burdened] with two heavy illnesses. One was leprosy and the other was mental illness. I trembled when I saw that,” he said, describing the feeling of injustice and frustration he felt.
Kneeling inside a chapel, Gutheinz said he cried in supplication to God as an attempt to find an answer to justify the utter despair he witnessed.
“I said to God, you cannot permit this Lord. I am against it. I cannot agree with it,” he said. “Half an hour later, peace swelled up from the depth of my heart and I heard God say to me in Chinese, Father Gu, you go ahead and do you what you need to do for the lepers and I will take care of the rest.”
Describing that moment in the chapel as his third vocation in life, Gutheinz said from then on, he had neither fears nor doubts that he was to serve those suffering from the disease.
Working closely with people battling with leprosy is not what Gutheinz had in mind as a career when growing up in Europe.
Born in 1933 in a small Austrian town near the Alps, the future Jesuit priest aspired to become a surgeon or a French Horn player.
One day, a Catholic priest approached him and his father while the pair were fixing the family fence. The priest asked his father if he would allow his second son to study to enter the Church.
“My father was so taken back,” he said, but he left the decision for his son to make, a gesture Gutheinz said he was grateful for.
Retreating to his safe place — a nearby chapel — the young Gutheinz sought clarity from God on what he should do. The next day, he told his family that he wished to enter a seminary. With the full blessing of his family, Gutheinz eventually entered the Society of Jesus and began his lifelong work.
Gutheinz recalled that when his mother received the news that her son was heading to China on his mission, her only fear was that he would not be able to tell the locals apart because “all Chinese look so much alike,” he said with a chuckle.
Tragically, Gutheinz’s mother died of a heart attack three days prior to his departure.
“I was so sad, but I said to my mom, ‘you come with me to China. You love China so much. You come with me,’ and she did and she still does,” he said, adding that he believes his mother is loving every minute of his Taiwanese adventure.
When Gutheinz began his work with the leprosy patients in Lo Sheng Sanitorium in 1975, the center housed more than 800 people. Now, the number is down to 247.
Thanks to a multi-drug therapy (MDT), all the residents at Lo Sheng have been cured, even though many are scarred for life.
Gutheinz said there was a huge misunderstanding that people affected with leprosy are contagious. The fact is, as long as a sufferer adheres to their MDT regiment, the bacteria are contained and they are not infectious, he said.
Looking towards the future, Gutheinz said the next step was to educate the public to remove the stigma that many have about the disease.
“You can shake their [lepers] hands, you can hug them. Just come and spend time with them,” he said, urging more volunteers to go to Lo Sheng to see the sanitorium for themselves.
Now the leprosy situation in Taiwan is under control, Gutheinz is looking to expand the CLS services to China, where there are an estimated 30,000 plus people with the disease in more than 800 leprosy villages.
For more information about volunteering at Lo Sheng, see: www.lslp.doh.gov.tw or call (02) 8200-6600.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
‘EXTREME PRESSURE’: Beijing’s goal is to ‘force Taiwan to make mistakes,’ Admiral Tang Hua said, adding that mishaps could serve as ‘excuses’ for launching a blockade China’s authoritarian expansionism threatens not only Taiwan, but the rules-based international order, the navy said yesterday, after its top commander said in an interview that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could blockade the nation at will. The object of Beijing’s expansionist activities is not limited to Taiwan and its use of pressure is not confined to specific political groups or people, the navy said in a statement. China utilizes a mixture of cognitive warfare and “gray zone” military activities to pressure Taiwan, the navy said, adding that PLA sea and air forces are compressing the nation’s defensive depth. The navy continues to
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS