Celebration of Dutch Bishop Frans Schraven Martyrdom in Zhengding
By Antonius
2 November 2024, All Souls Day
At 8:00 PM on the evening of October 9, 2024, priests from Zhengding and Xingtai Dioceses, staff of the Faith Press, four deacons, two religious, and hundreds of Catholics gathered to celebrate a memorial mass for Bishop Schraven, C.M., a Vincentian Missionary, and his companions in Zhengding, praying for Bishop Schraven’s canonization. This year, many pilgrimage groups came to visit Zhengding.
The Chinese Christians pray together with the Church in the Netherlands to bear witness to the gospel of the Lord. The Church in Zhengding is now building a house to exhibit Bishop Schraven's witness to Christ’s love for the Chinese people.
(Photo credit:
Antonius. oP priests and deacons of the Diocese of Zhengding and Xingtai)
On October 9, 1937, the Japanese conquered the city of Zhengding*, where Bishop Schraven was responsible for the protection of some 4,000 refugees, primarily women and children. The soldiers plundered the city and killed and raped at will. The Japanese authorities demanded that Bishop Schraven hand over some women ‘to fill the soldier's need for comfort.’
The Bishop refused their demand. In the evening of the day that the city fell, Bishop Schraven and nine priests were arrested and deported by truck. That same evening, the Japanese army was thought to have burned the bodies of all the killed not far from the centuries-old Buddhist pagoda in Zhengding, Hebei Province. It took until 1973 before the fate of Bishop Schraven was discovered: he and others had been burnt alive on a pyre.
The parish priests and Christians in Zhengding want to let more and more Chinese people know about Bishop Schraven’s love for the Chinese and his contributions to the Church in China and continue to share the story of the Vincentian’s mission to proclaim the Gospel to the Chinese and to protect women’s dignity. The Christians pray for Bishop Schraven's early canonization. They hope to share the progress of his canonization with his family in the Netherlands.
Christians not only come to Zhengding on the day of Bishop Schraven's martyrdom, but some also go weekly to sweep the tombstone of Bishop Schraven and pray in the Tianning temple. In recent years, the number of visitors to Zhengding has gradually increased, including individuals and groups from all over China. The local Christians tell them about Bishop Schraven’s protection of Chinese people, which led to his martyrdom.
Due to historical conditions in China, in 1947, Bishop Chen Zhiming of Zhengding led almost all the Zhengding diocesan priests to Brazil, and they never returned. Consequently, there were many difficulties in running the diocese that continue to this day.
Christians in Zhengding are now working hard to make Bishop Schraven's deeds of justice and charity become public knowledge and encourage prayers for the canonization of Bishop Schraven.
(Photo of old Buddhist pagoda)
The Chinese Christians pray together with the Church in the Netherlands to bear witness to the gospel of the Lord. The Church in Zhengding is now building a house to exhibit Bishop Schraven's witness to Christ’s love for the Chinese people.
The yard of the house will be called Bishop Schraven (文致和主教之家). The Chinese Christians look forward to its completion soon. I also look forward to physically attending the Bishop Schraven canonization ceremony.
Zhengding, originally Zhending, is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately 260 km south of Beijing, the capital of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and has a population of 594,000.
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Note: This is an occasional series of reflections from the Church in China shared with Tom McGuire, USCCA Board of Directors.
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