Frans Schraven

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Frans Schraven
Coat of arms of Frans Schraven

Franciscus Hubertus Schraven (born October 13, 1873 in Lottum , Limburg , † October 9, 1937 in China ) was a Dutch Catholic religious priest ( Lazarist ) and bishop who worked as a missionary in China. He died in Zhengding , Hebei , China while protecting the local population during the Second Sino-Japanese War .

Life

Frans Schraven was born as the son of the farmer Jakob Arnold Schraven and his wife Jacoba Huberdina Wijnhoven in Lottum in the Dutch province of Limburg. He attended the Episcopal College, a grammar school with boarding school in Roermond . From 1892, after finishing school, he studied philosophy in the seminary of the diocese Roermond in Rolduc . In 1894, following the example of his uncle Frans Wijnhoven and his cousin Frans Geurts, he joined the Lazarists. He completed his novitiate in Paris, studied theology and was established in May 1899 in Paris for ordained priests .

Missionary in China

In the same year Frans Schraven followed his call to China as a missionary. From 1904 to 1908 he was a missionary in Zhengding and from 1908 to 1920 in Tianjin .

On December 16, 1920 Schraven was appointed Apostolic Vicar of the Apostolic Vicariate Southwest Chi-Li based in Zhengding and consecrated bishop on April 10, 1921 in Zhengding.

death

The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in September 1931. When Japanese troops advanced into east China as part of the 1937 invasion, they finally reached Zhengding. Around 5,000 residents of the city asked the local Catholic clergy for protection. Among those seeking refuge were 200 young women. They threatened to be abused by the soldiers as comfort women . Bishop Schraven refused to hand over the women - as requested by Japanese soldiers. In doing so, he incurred the hatred of the occupiers. He was arrested, abducted with eight other clergymen, and burned alive.

Commemoration

The Schravenpfad was opened in his hometown of Lottum in June 2016 . The 10 km long hiking trail connects his birthplace with several chapels.

Beatification process

The Bishop of Roermond, Frans Wiertz , began the process of beatifying Frans Schraven due to his martyrdom in 2013 . In 2014, he handed the case over to the relevant Vatican Congregation for assessment. In this context, there were calls for Schraven to be the patron saint of victims of sexual violence.

Fonts

  • Brieven van bisschop Frans Schraven 1894–1937 , edited by Vincent Hermans. Mgr.Schraven Stichting, Simpelveld, 2nd edition 2007.

literature

  • De moord op Mgr.Schraven CM en zijn medebroeders op 9 october 1937 in de publikaties van 1937 en 1938 (= Vincentiaanse reeks , vol. 10). Congregation of the Missie, Panningen 1987.

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Monseigneur Franciscus Hubertus Schraven Lazarist , accessed on March 15, 2019.
  2. ^ Piet Litjens: Msgr. Schraven Foundation: homepage .
  3. ^ Leopold Leeb: Conference on the 80th anniversary of the Zhengding massacre . In: China heute , vol. 36 (2017), pp. 214–215.
  4. ↑ Julian Ryall: Bishop who protected Chinese girls from Japanese soldiers could become patron saint of sex abuse victims , Telegraph.co.uk, January 7, 2014, accessed March 15, 2019.
  5. ↑ Lottum open to Schravenpad. Retrieved October 11, 2017 (Dutch).
  6. ↑ Bishop burned alive by Japanese troops in 1937 may become patron saint of abuse victims . In: Japan Today . 
  7. ^ Moves start in the Netherlands to beatify Bishop Frans Schraven . In: ucanews.com . 
  8. ↑ Beatification: Dutch bishop is to become patron saint for abuse victims . In: Spiegel Online . January 6, 2014 ( spiegel.de [accessed March 10, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Schraven, Frans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schraven, Franciscus Hubertus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch Catholic Bishop in China
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Lottum , Limburg
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1937
Place of death China