9 July 2011 -- The comments keep coming about Peter
ToRot - more on that below. In the meantime, having
highlighted a martyr at one end of the Region, it would not
do to miss an important group, 120 of them, at the other end
of the Region. 9 July is the liturgical celebration of the
Chinese martyrs.
Augustine Zhao Rong was one of the
Chinese soldiers who escorted Bishop John Gabriel Taurin
Dufresse to his execution. Moved by his patience, he asked
to be baptised, and in due course was sent to the seminary
and ordained a priest. He was arrested and savagely
tortured. He died in 1815.
With him are celebrated 119 of his
companions in martyrdom in China between 1648 and 1930
(including Bishop Dufresse).
Official persecution of Christians by the
Emperors ceased in 1842, but violent anti-religious
sentiments persisted, and in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900,
Christians were particularly attacked and many thousands
were killed.
It might be of interest to note that in
very recent times, of two statues sent to our original
Chinese Diocese, only one got through customs. The other no: it was
deemed unacceptable; the statue of a martyr! --------
In the meantime, this further comment on Bl Peter ToRot from
Fr Eddie O'Neill in South Africa:
"Greetings from Cape Town. Thank you for your interesting
report. As you are aware I was Promotor of Justice in the
cause of the Servant of God Benedict Daswa, of the Tzaneen
diocese, here in South Africa. (Also a martyrdom case). As
I was working with the Bishop and the Promoter of the
Cause, who were both Sacred Heart Fathers, I read the life
of Peter To Rot and we used the documents that were
submitted to Rome in his cause as a sample document of the
process!! Devotion to Benedict is growing as his life (and
death) are being promoted and made known within the
diocese and the conference". _________________ AustraLasia
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