Martyr Saints of China
| Martyr Saints of China | |
|---|---|
Memorial plaque at Saint Francis Xavier Church (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) | |
| Died | 1648–1930, Qing Empire and Republic of China |
| Martyred by | Boxer Rebellion |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | by Pope Leo XIII: 5 were beatified on 14 May 1893 14 were beatified on 27 May 1900 by Pope Pius X: 14 were beatified on 2 May 1909 by Pope Pius XII: 29 were beatified on 24 November 1946 1 was beatified on 18 February 1951 56 were beatified on 17 April 1955 by Pope John Paul II: 2 were beatified on 15 May 1983 |
| Canonized | 1 October 2000, by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 9 July |
| Notable martyrs | Anna Wang Augustine Zhao Rong Francisco Fernández de Capillas Auguste Chapdelaine |
The Martyr Saints of China (traditional Chinese: 中華殉道聖人; simplified Chinese: 中华殉道圣人; pinyin: Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén), or Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, are 120 saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries from the mid-17th century to 1930 were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize.
Many died in the Boxer Rebellion, in which anti-Western peasant rebels slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners.
In the General Roman Calendar of 1969, they are remembered with an optional memorial on 9 July.