Peter Lieou also known as Liu Wenyuan Petrus / Baiduo / Peter Liu Wenyuan was Chinese Catholic convert, layman, missionary and a

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 ...

. He was exiled and was strangled to death in a prison for being a Christian and preaching Christianity in China.

Early life

Lieou was born in

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

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 ...

in 1760. Peter was a married man who converted to Christianity and then became a catechist in the church.

Persecution

Peter was warned by authorities about his practice of faith and preaching and finally because of his faith he was exiled to

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

in 1814. He was allowed to return from exile in 1827 and as soon as he came back, he started working with Catholic missionaries. Many Christians were made prisoners once again with the fresh persecution of Christianity in China. Peter was able to evade arrest initially but was soon caught ministering to prisoners, his sons were also among the other prisoners in the prison.

Martyrdom

Peter was martyred by strangling to death on 17 May 1834 in

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

Canonization

On 2 July 1899, Peter was venerated and declared a martyr by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1900. He was finally canonized and declared a saint on 1 October 2000 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieou, Peter 1760 births 1834 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Catholic Church in Guizhou Catholic martyrs Chinese Roman Catholic saints Deaths by strangulation Prisoners who died in Chinese detention Qing dynasty Christians