1951 - Peter Sun

August 1951

Peter Sun

Beijing

Born on November 11, 1905, Peter Sun had joined the Lazarists of North China and committed himself to a life of service. In 1932 he graduated from seminary and was ordained a priest. Over the next few decades Sun came to be acknowledged as a man possessing great wisdom and leadership qualities, holding the position of Superior of the Preparatory Seminary in Beijing, before being appointed the Provincial of the Lazarists of North China in 1951.

On July 25, 1951—just a few months after being appointed to this high-ranking position—the Communist authorities arrested Sun along with 13 other missionaries. Peter Sun’s high position guaranteed the wrath of the country’s rulers was poured out on him. He was accused of all kinds of vile crimes. One source recalled:

“Thousands of people came from all over Beijing to attend this trial. Every Catholic present was watched by several Reds to see if he showed any sympathy for the accused: a Catholic girl was closely questioned because she had not shown ‘anti-imperialist feeling’. Father Peter Sun’s…was accused of attempting rape on a girl student and a schoolteacher. The supposed girl victim was well-known for her frivolity and light-headedness; her accusations were read out with a show of great emotion and much shedding of tears.”[I]

After the public trial Peter Sun was sentenced to prison and taken away. From that moment all news of him ceased. Nobody knew where he had been taken or what fate had befallen him. In October 1951 some Catholics came across Sun’s grave by accident. A rudimentary gravestone had been erected listing his name and age. No information about how he had died was ever obtained, except that the government admitted he had died in August of 1951, just a few weeks after his arrest.[II]

Catholic believers exhumed the corpse and took it back to Beijing for a proper burial. Hundreds of believers risked arrest by turning out at the Requiem Mass at the Chala Seminary near Beijing. Many people rededicated their lives to God, while some priests who were considering joining the government-sanctioned Catholic church abandoned the idea after witnessing the sacrifice of their fallen co-worker.

What cruel events transpired to take the life of this gifted church leader are not known in this world, but will surely be revealed when the records of all men are revealed.