1909 - Pierre Saffroy

September 4, 1909

Tianjin

Pierre Marie Georges Saffroy was born at Vic-sur-Seille near the French town of Metz, on December 29, 1877. His father was a hard-working clerk, and his mother was widely respected as a Christian woman of excellent virtue. During his time at school, Pierre gained a keen interest in wood carving. He was trained as a sculptor and made some furniture for his local church. Those who met the young man found him to be jovial and charming.

One day, while still a teenager, Saffroy told his friend he wanted to be a missionary and declared, “I am not afraid to die, and I believe God will grant the joy of martyrdom to me, even though I am not worthy of such an honour.”[1] Later, Saffroy shared his desire to be a priest with his father, who laughed and said, “The day you become a priest is the day I will become the Pope!” Despite this discouragement, the young man continued on the pathway God had called him to. After working for three years as a sculptor, Saffroy entered the seminary of the Missions Etrangères de Paris at the age of 20. He excelled in the study of philosophy, theology, and ecclesiastical sciences.

Finally, in September 1901, Saffroy was ordained a priest. The following November 13th he embarked on the long journey for his appointed mission in southern Manchuria. His inner drive and discipline meant that he made rapid progress in the language, and less than a year later he was placed in charge of an important and vast district in the present-day Liaoning Province, which contained thousands of new Christians. One report said,

“The apostle put himself to work with all the energy of his youth and the zeal of his faith. He traversed the district in all directions, preaching and instructing the new believers. Before too long the results of his efforts matched the hopes he held for the work. A new danger presented itself, however. A war between Russia and Japan, both of whom coveted the rich Manchurian plains, affected the spread of the gospel and caused a deterioration in Saffroy’s health.”[2]

Mgr. Choulet, the Vicar Apostolic of the region, ordered Saffroy to rest. The Frenchman was unhappy to do so, as he felt he always needed to be “on the go.” Staying still was not one of his gifts. By October 1907 the doctors determined that Saffroy had recuperated sufficiently, and he was sent to the town of Tieling in northern Liaoning. He again threw himself into the work wholeheartedly, helping run an orphanage as well as digging ditches, planting trees, and sharing the gospel with strangers. The local believers loved the effervescent priest, and soon the number of people attending church grew.

In August 1909 Pierre Saffroy again fell sick. He was put on a train south, where a fellow missionary rented a cart to transport the ill priest to his home. As the cart made its way along the bumpy roads, suddenly

“Six to eight brigands left the fields where they were hiding and ambushed the cart. A rifle shot rang out and a bullet lodged in Saffroy’s brain. A small band of soldiers travelling down the same road heard the gun shots and rushed to the scene. They found the missionary lying in a pool of blood but still alive. A man found some linen and bandaged the wound, and Saffroy was carried to a nearby village where a doctor managed to stop the haemorrhaging.”[3]

Later in the evening Saffroy was helped to the train station and sent back to Tieling. An English Protestant doctor there treated the ailing Frenchman, and decided the wound itself was not life-threatening, but complications could arise from infection. It was decided best if he travelled to the hospital at Tianjin, where the facilities were far superior to those available in Manchuria. On September 11th, Saffroy started the long journey, first by train to Shenyang and then for two days further south to Tianjin, where the doctor diagnosed a purulent abscess on Saffroy’s brain, and operated immediately. A fever resulted, and in the evening of September 14, 1909, the 31-year-old Frenchman passed into the presence of Jesus Christ, 19 days after the bandit attack.

1. My translation of the Pierre Saffroy Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1900-1999.
2. Pierre Saffroy Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
3. Pierre Saffroy Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.