1878 - Louis Jolly

March 16, 1878

Liuzhou, Guangxi

Louis Jolly was born in the French town of Lencroître on December 5, 1836. His parents were poor by the standards of this world, but they were rich in faith. As a boy Jolly attended a small seminary at Montmorillou where his teachers were impressed by his “maturity of judgement, the energy of his character and the enthusiasm of his piety.”[1]

By the conclusion of his studies, Jolly felt that his life could be best spent for God if he served as a missionary in a foreign land. He applied to join the Missions Etrangères de Paris. After completing training he was ordained a priest on June 2, 1860, and departed for China the following July 25th. To begin with, Jolly was stationed at Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong Province, where he studied Cantonese. When he had gained a working knowledge of the difficult language he made his way inland to his appointed station in Guangxi.

Jolly’s ministry over the years saw good fruit, and the devil strongly opposed him. One night a group of ten assassins stormed Jolly’s residence with a view to murdering him. One of the leaders of the group was infuriated that Jolly had converted and baptized his parents, and he sought to wreak revenge on the sleeping priest. Jolly

“received sword cuts to his head and other parts of his body, as well as wounds from sabres and shovels. The assassins were convinced the priest was dead and left him in his own blood. Fortunately his wounds, although extremely serious, were not mortal. After a few months, thanks to the loving care lavished upon him, Jolly was completely restored.”[2]

In 1866 the leader of the Guangxi mission appointed Jolly to preach the gospel to an impoverished minority tribe living in the mountainous border area. The tribe, numbering about 50,000 people, had asked for a missionary to come and teach them the truth. To begin with the outreach yielded tremendous results, but the Chinese authorities heard about it and did all they could to stop Jolly and his coworkers from working there. The minority Christians were strongly persecuted, and the work came to a halt.

In December 1868, Jolly was sent to Liuzhou where an encouraging work of salvation was occurring. On Christmas Eve a mob of angry locals attacked the Frenchman and his colleague, Jean-Marie Delavay. As a result of the attack, “Jolly suffered light wounds, while Delavay was chased by the mob and suffered several serious head wounds. In the attack approximately one hundred local Christians were wounded and seven or eight were killed.”[3]

Guangxi was separated from Guangdong Province in 1875 and became a Catholic diocese in its own right. Louis Jolly was given the honour of being the first Vicar Apostolic of Guangxi. News of the appointment was sent to Jolly, but by the time he received it he was in no shape to accept the role. The years of exertions and numerous beatings had badly shaken his health. Jolly’s body was covered in festering wounds which one missionary said looked similar to leprosy. The mission, after consulting their doctors, decided to send Jolly back to France for a time of rest and recuperation.

Love and care was lavished on the French priest, who was still only 39-years-old but looked like an old man. He was moved to the St. Louis Hospital in Paris in November 1877, but by then he was

“Almost completely blind, and condemned not to leave the armchair in his room. Despite his sufferings, Jolly always had a smile on his lips and possessed the deep peace of a man who had served God wholeheartedly. In March, 1878, his condition suddenly worsened, and on the 16th he expired to be with his Savior.”[4]

1. My translation of the Louis Jolly Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1800-1899.
2. Louis Jolly Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
3. Louis Jolly Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
4. Louis Jolly Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.