Frans Schraven (13 October 1873 – 9 October 1937) was a Dutch

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

who served as a missionary in China. He died in

Zhengding Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and h ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

, China while attempting to protect the local population during the Sino-Japanese war.

Early life

Schraven was born in

Lottum Lottum is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Horst aan de Maas. History The village was first mentioned around 1100 as "de Lutmo". The etymology is unclear. Lottum developed along the Maas in the Mi ...

in the province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. He was educated at the Episcopal College in

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

priest in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in May 1899. The same year of his ordination he followed his calling as

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

in China. On 10 April 1921 he was made Bishop in the city of Zhengding.

Death

The Second Sino-Japanese war broke out in September 1931. As the

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

troops progressed through Eastern China, they reached Zhengding as part of the full-scale invasion in 1937. Around 5,000 local residents, including 200 young women, sought refuge with the Catholic priests from the advancing army. It is thought that the young women were at risk of being taken away of comfort women for the soldiers. Schraven resisted the Japanese troops. When confronted by Japanese soldiers he allegedly responded by saying, "You can kill me if you want but you will never get what you ask for". He and his fellow 8 priests were subsequently kidnapped and burned alive.

Alternative account

The Japanese

historical revisionist In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

organization, Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, questions the murder of the priest by Japanese soldiers. They dismiss accusations of the crime as propaganda, citing that there had been no houses for comfort women in the area at the time. Correspondence between the Japanese and French embassies in Beijing suggests that Japanese officials rejected responsibility at the time, blaming rogue Chinese forces for their deaths. A memorial was erected for the deaths of the priests without accepting responsibility.

Legacy

In 2013, Frans Wiertz, Bishop of Roermond, initiated proceeding for the

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

of Frans Schraven for his

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

dom. Document have been passed to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

in Rome in 2014 as part of the process. There have been calls for the canonisation of Schraven as the patron saint for

sex abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

victims. In 2016, the ''Schraven Path'' was opened, a 10 km walk way in his home town of Lottum, connecting his birthplace and local chapels.

References

External links