Martyr Saints of China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Martyr Saints of China | |
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| Died | 1648–1930, China |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 9 July |
| Notable martyrs | Augustine Zhao Rong |
 Saints Portal |
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Martyr Saints of China or Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions are saints in the Roman Catholic Church for their martyrdom in China. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries, from the middle of the 17th century to 1930, were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostate, or renounce Christianity. Many died in the Boxer Rebellion of 1898–1900 in which xenophobic peasants slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners.
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[edit] The 17th and 18th centuries
On 15 January 1648, the Manchu Tartars, having invaded the region of Fujian and shown themselves hostile to the Christian religion, killed St Francis Fernández de Capillas, a priest of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). After having imprisoned and tortured him, they beheaded him while he recited with others the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
St Francis Ferdinand de Capillas has been recognised by the Holy See as the protomartyr of China.
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century another five Spanish missionaries, who had carried out their activity between 1715–1747, were put to death as a result of a new wave of persecution that started in 1729 and broke out again in 1746. This was in the epoch of the Emperor Yung-Cheng and of his son, K'ien-Lung.
St Peter Sans Jordà, O.P, Bishop, was martyred in 1747, at Fuzhou.
All four of the following were killed on 28 October 1748:
1. St Francis Serrano, O.P., Priest
2. St Joachim Royo, O.P., Priest
3. St John Alcober, O.P., Priest
4. St Francis Diaz, O.P., Priest.
[edit] Early 19th-century martyrdoms
A new period of persecution in regard to the Christian religion then occurred in the nineteenth century.
While Catholicism had been authorised by some Emperors in the preceding centuries, Emperor Kia-Kin (1796–1821) published, instead, numerous and severe decrees against it. The first was issued in 1805. Two edicts of 1811 were directed against those among the Chinese who were studying to receive sacred orders, and against priests who were propagating the Christian religion. A decree of 1813 exonerated voluntary apostates from every chastisement, that is, Christians who spontaneously declared that they would abandon their faith, but all others were to be dealt with harshly.
In this period the following underwent martyrdom:
5. Saint Peter Wu, a Chinese lay catechist. Born of a pagan family, he received baptism in 1796 and passed the rest of his life proclaiming the truth of the Christian religion. All attempts to make him apostasize were in vain. The sentence having been pronounced against him, he was strangled on 7 November 1814.
6. Saint Joseph Zhang Dapeng, a lay catechist, and a merchant. Baptised in 1800, he had become the heart of the mission in the city of Kony-Yang. He was imprisoned, and then strangled to death on 12 March 1815.
In this same year (1815) there came two other decrees, with which approval was given to the conduct of the Viceroy of Sichuan who had beheaded Monsignor Dufresse, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and some Chinese Christians. As a result, there was a worsening of the persecution.
The following martyrs belong to this period:
7. Saint John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, M.E.P., Bishop. He was arrested on 18 May 1815, taken to Chengdu, condemned and executed on 14 September 1815.
8. Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, a Chinese diocesan priest. Having first been one of the soldiers who had escorted Monsignor Dufresse from Chengdu to Beijing, he was moved by his patience and had then asked to be numbered among the neophytes. Once baptised, he was sent to the seminary and then ordained a priest. Arrested, he had to suffer the most cruel tortures and then died in 1815.
9. Saint John da Triora, O.F.M., Priest. Put in prison together with others in the summer of 1815, he was then condemned to death, and strangled on 7 February 1816.
10. Saint Joseph Yuan, a Chinese diocesan priest. Having heard Monsignor Dufresse speak of the Christian Faith, he was overcome by its beauty and then became an exemplary neophyte. Later, he was ordained a priest and, as such, was dedicated to evangelisation in various districts. He was arrested in August 1816, condemned to be strangled, and was killed in this way on 24 June 1817.
11. Saint Paul Liu Hanzuo, a Chinese diocesan priest, killed in 1819.
11. Saint Francis Regis Clet of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). After obtaining permission to go to the Missions in China, he embarked for the Orient in 1791. Having reached there, for thirty years he spent a life of missionary sacrifice. Upheld by an untiring zeal, he evangelised three immense provinces of the Chinese Empire: Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan. Betrayed by a Christian, he was arrested and thrown into prison where he underwent atrocious tortures. Following sentence by the Emperor he was killed by strangling on 17 February 1820.
12. Saint Thaddeus Liu, a Chinese diocesan priest. He refused to apostasize, saying that he was a priest and wanted to be faithful to the religion that he had preached. Condemned to death, he was strangled on 30 November 1823.
12. Saint Peter Liu, a Chinese lay catechist. He was arrested in 1814 and condemned to exile in Tartary, where he remained for almost twenty years. Returning to his homeland he was again arrested, and was strangled on 17 May 1834.
13. Saint Joachim Ho, a Chinese lay catechist. He was baptised at the age of about twenty years. In the great persecution of 1814 he had been taken with many others of the faithful and subjected to cruel torture. Sent into exile in Tartary, he remained there for almost twenty years. Returning to his homeland he was arrested again and refused to apostasize. Following that, and the death sentence having been confirmed by the Emperor, he was strangled on 9 July 1839.
14. Saint Augustus Chapdelaine, M.E.P., a priest of the diocese of Coutances. He entered the Seminary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and embarked for China in 1852. He arrived in Guangxi at the end of 1854. Arrested in 1856, he was tortured, condemned to death in prison, and died in February 1856.
15. Saint Laurence Bai Xiaoman, a Chinese layman, and an unassuming worker. He joined Blessed Chapdelaine in the refuge that was given to the missionary and was arrested with him and brought before the tribunal. Nothing could make him renounce his religious beliefs. He was beheaded on 25 February 1856.
16. Saint Agnes Cao Guiying, a widow, born into an old Christian family. Being dedicated to the instruction of young girls who had recently been converted by Blessed Chapdelaine, she was arrested and condemned to death in prison. She was executed on 1 March 1856.
[edit] Martyrs of MaoKou and Guizhou
Three catechists, known as the Martyrs of MaoKou (in the province of Guizhou) were killed on 28 January 1858, by order of the Mandarin of MaoKou:
17. Saint Jerome Lu Tingmei
18. Saint Laurence Wang Bing
19. Saint Agatha Lin Zao
All three had been called on to renounce the Christian religion and having refused to do so were condemned to be beheaded.
In Guizhou, two seminarians and two lay people, one of whom was a farmer, the other a widow who worked as a cook in the seminary, suffered martyrdom together on 29 July 1861. They are known as the Martyrs of Qingyanzhen (Guizhou):
20. Saint Joseph Zhang Wenlan, seminarian
21. Saint Paul Chen Changpin, seminarian
22. Saint John Baptist Luo Tingying, layman
23. Saint Martha Wang Luo Mande, laywoman
In the following year, on 18 and 19 February 1862, another five people gave their life for Christ. They are known as the Martyrs of Guizhou.
24. Saint John Peter Neel, a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society,
25. Saint Martin Wu Xuesheng, lay catechist,
26. Saint John Zhang Tianshen, lay catechist,
27. Saint John Chen Xianheng, lay catechist,
28. Saint Lucy Yi Zhenmei, lay catechist.
[edit] Martyrs of the Boxer War
In the meantime, some incidents occurred in the politicalfield that had notable repercussions on the life of the Christian missions.
In June 1840, the Imperial Commissioner of Guangdong, wished to abolish the opium trade that was being conducted by the British, had more than twenty thousand chests of this drug thrown into the sea. This had been the pretext for immediate war, which was won by the British. When the war came to an end, China had to sign in 1842 the first international treaty of modern times, followed quickly by others with America and France. Taking advantage of this opportunity, France replaced Portugal as the power protecting the missions. Following on from this, a twofold decree was issued: one part in 1844 which permitted the Chinese to follow the Catholic religion; the other, in 1846, with which the old penalties against Catholics were abolished.
From then on the Church could live openly and carry out its missionary activity, developing it also in the sphere of higher education, in universities and scientific research.
With the multiplication of various top-level cultural Institutes and thanks to their highly valued activity, ever deeper links were gradually established between the Church and China with its rich cultural traditions.
This collaboration with the Chinese authorities further increased the mutual appreciation and sharing of those true values that must underpin every civilised society.
And so passed an era of expansion in the Christian missions, with the exception of the period in which they were struck by the disaster of the uprising by the “Society for Justice and Harmony” (commonly known as the “Boxers”). This occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century and caused the shedding of the blood of many Christians.
It is known that, mingled in this rebellion, were all the secret societies and the accumulated and repressed hatred against foreigners in the last decades of the nineteenth century, because of the political and social changes following the Opium War and the imposition of the so-called “unequal treaties” on the part of the Western Powers.
Very different, however, was the motive for the persecution of the missionaries, even though they were of European nationality. Their slaughter was brought about solely on religious grounds. They were killed for the same reason as the Chinese faithful who had become Christians. Reliable historical documents provide evidence of the anti-Christian hatred which spurred the “Boxers” to massacre the missionaries and the christians of the area who had adhered to their teaching. In this regard, an edict was issued on 1 July 1900 which, in substance, said that the time of good relations with European missionaries and their Christians was now past: that the former must be repatriated at once and the faithful forced to apostasize, on penalty of death.
As a result, the martyrdom took place of several missionaries and many Chinese who can be grouped together as follows:
a) Martyrs of Shanxi, killed on 9 July 1900, who were Franciscan Friars Minor:
29. St Gregory Grassi, Bishop,
30. St Francis Fogolla, Bishop,
31. St Elias Facchini, Priest,
32. St Theodoric Balat, Priest,
33. St Andrew Bauer, Religious Brother;
b) Martyrs of Southern Hunan, who were also Franciscan Friars Minor:
34. St Anthony Fantosati, Bishop (martyred on 7 July 1900),
35. St Joseph Mary Gambaro, Priest (martyred on 7 July 1900),
36. St Cesidio Giacomantonio, Priest (martyred on 4 July 1900).
To the martyred Franciscans of the First Order were added seven Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, of whom three were French, two Italian, one Belgian, and one Dutch:
37. St Mary Hermina of Jesus (in saec: Irma Grivot),
38. St Mary of Peace (in saec: Mary Ann Giuliani),
39. St Mary Clare (in saec: Clelia Nanetti),
40. St Mary of the Holy Birth (in saec: Joan Mary Kerguin),
41. St Mary of Saint Justus (in saec: Ann Moreau),
42. St Mary Adolfine (in saec: Ann Dierk),
43. St Mary Amandina (in saec: Paula Jeuris).
Of the martyrs belonging to the Franciscan family, there were also eleven Secular Franciscans, all Chinese:
44. St John Zhang Huan, seminarian,
45. St Patrick Dong Bodi, seminarian,
46. St John Wang Rui, seminarian,
47. St Philip Zhang Zhihe, seminarian,
48. St John Zhang Jingguang, seminarian,
49. St Thomas Shen Jihe, layman and a manservant,
50. St Simon Qin Cunfu, lay catechist,
51. St Peter Wu Anbang, layman,
52. St Francis Zhang Rong, layman and a farmer,
53. St Matthew Feng De, layman and neophyte,
54. St Peter Zhang Banniu, layman and labourer.
To these are joined a number of Chinese lay faithful:
55. St James Yan Guodong, farmer,
56. St James Zhao Quanxin, manservant,
57. St Peter Wang Erman, cook.
When the uprising of the “Boxers”, which had begun in Shandong and then spread through Shanxi and Hunan, also reached South-Eastern Tcheli, which was then the Apostolic Vicariate of Xianxian, in the care of the Jesuits, the Christians killed could be counted in thousands.
Among these were four French Jesuit missionaries and at least 52 Chinese lay Christians: men, women and children – the oldest of them being 79 years old, while the youngest were aged only nine years. All suffered martyrdom in the month of July 1900. Many of them were killed in the church in the village of Tchou-Kia-ho, in which they were taking refuge and where they were in prayer together with the first two of the missionaries listed below:
58. St Leo Mangin, S.J., Priest, 59. St Paul Denn, S.J., Priest, 60. St Rémy Isoré, S.J., Priest, 61. St Modeste Andlauer, S.J., Priest.
The names and ages of the Chinese lay Christians were as follows:
62. St Mary Zhu born Wu, aged about 50 years,
63. St Peter Zhu Rixin, aged 19,
64. St John Baptist Zhu Wurui, aged 17,
65. St Mary Fu Guilin, aged 37,
66. St Barbara Cui born Lian, aged 51,
67. St Joseph Ma Taishun, aged 60,
68. St Lucy Wang Cheng, aged 18,
69. St Mary Fan Kun, aged 16,
70. St Mary Chi Yu, aged 15,
71. St Mary Zheng Xu, aged 11 years,
72. St Mary Du born Zhao, aged 51,
73. St Magdalene Du Fengju, aged 19,
74. St Mary du born Tian, aged 42,
75. St Paul Wu Anjyu, aged 62,
76. St John Baptist Wu Mantang, aged 17,
77. St Paul Wu Wanshu, aged 16,
78. St Raymond Li Quanzhen, aged 59,
79. St Peter Li Quanhui, aged 63,
80. St Peter Zhao Mingzhen, aged 61,
81. St John Baptist Zhao Mingxi, aged 56,
82. St Teresa Chen Tinjieh, aged 25,
83. St Rose Chen Aijieh, aged 22,
84. St Peter Wang Zuolung, aged 58,
85. St Mary Guo born Li, aged 65,
86. St Joan Wu Wenyin, aged 50,
87. St Zhang Huailu, aged 57,
88. St Mark Ki-T'ien-Siang, aged 66,
89. St Ann An born Xin, aged 72,
90. St Mary An born Guo, aged 64,
91. St Ann An born Jiao, aged 26,
92. St Mary An Linghua, aged 29,
93. St Paul Liu Jinde, aged 79,
94. St Joseph Wang Kuiju, aged 37,
95. St John Wang Kuixin, aged 25,
96. St Teresa Zhang born He, aged 36,
97. St Lang born Yang, aged 29,
98. St Paul Lang Fu, aged 9,
99. St Elizabeth Qin born Bian, aged 54,
100. St Simon Qin Cunfu, aged 14,
101. St Peter Liu Zeyu, aged 57,
102. St Ann Wang, aged 14,
103. St Joseph Wang Yumei, aged 68,
104. St Lucy Wang born Wang, aged 31,
105. St Andrew Wang Tianqing, aged 9,
106. St Mary Wang born Li, aged 49,
107. St Chi Zhuze, aged 18,
108. St Mary Zhao born Guo, aged 60,
109. St Rose Zhao, aged 22,
110. St Mary Zhao, aged 17,
111. St Joseph Yuan Gengyin, aged 47,
112. St Paul Ge Tingzhu, aged 61,
113. St Rose Fan Hui, aged 45.
Besides all those already mentioned who were killed by the “Boxers”, it is necessary also to remember:
114. St Alberic Crescitelli, a priest of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions of Milan, who carried out his ministry in Southern Shanxi and was martyred on 21 July 1900.
Some years later, members of the Salesian Society of St John Bosco were added to the considerable number of martyrs recorded above:
115. St Louis Versiglia, Bishop,
116. St Callistus Caravario, Priest.
They were killed together on 25 February 1930 at Li-Thau-Tseul.
[edit] References
Vatican website — MARTYRS IN CHINA
