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

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

who served as a missionary in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He died in

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

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, 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 (Netherlands), 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 ...

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 (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), 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 City rights i ...

and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

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 Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to 19 ...

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 Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

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) scholarly views or narratives regarding a historical event, timespa ...

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 Franciscus Jozef Maria (Frans) Wiertz (December 2, 1942) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was bishop of Roermond from 1993 until 2017. Early life Born in Kerkrade as the oldest in a family of nine, Wiertz studied at the Minor semi ...

, Bishop of Roermond, initiated proceeding for the

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

of Frans Schraven for his

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

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, passi ...

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 is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...

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