Benedict Chao, world's oldest Trappist monk, dies at 108

Father Benedict Chao, the world’s oldest Trappist monk, has passed away at the age of 108. The Diocese of Hong Kong announced that he died on July 31 at the Abbey of Our Lady of Joy on Lantau Island.

Born in 1918 in Chengting, China, Father Chao was among the last Trappist monks to have survived the persecution of religious orders during the Chinese Communist revolution. Following the revolution in 1949, he and other monks were forced to flee China, spending time in Canada and later in Utah, United States, where they developed skills such as cheese-making.

With his passing, Sister Sebastiana Yamaguchi Teruko of the Imari Abbey in Japan, aged 107, becomes the oldest living Trappist religious. The Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance noted that Father Chao’s life serves as a testament to those who dedicate themselves to God through silence, prayer, and work.