Jimmy Lai’s son pushes Pope Leo XIV to get father out of jail in Hong Kong

WASHINGTON (RNS) — As he visited Washington on Wednesday (Sept. 16) to testify before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China about his father’s imprisonment in Hong Kong, Sebastien Lai said the Vatican could play a more vocal role to help his father, journalist Jimmy Lai.

“ It would definitely help for the pope to say my father’s name,” Sebastien Lai said at an event for journalists organized by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. “ The head of the Catholic faith has incredible moral power, especially in a case where it concerns a Catholic,” he said.

Earlier this year, a Hong Kong court sentenced 78-year-old Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of violating a national security law imposed by the government in Beijing. Lai, a critic of the Chinese government, had founded a pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily. Its leaders said it was forced to shut down after government pressure in 2021.

Sebastien Lai said that his father’s health is deteriorating after nearly six years in solitary confinement. “ He now has heart issues. His nails fall off. His teeth are rotting. During the summer, the heat, he bleeds all…