1900 - Remigio Isore

June 19, 1900

Wuyi, Hebei

Remigio Isore.

Remigio (better known as Remi) Isore was born in Bambeque, northern France, on January 22, 1852. His father was a primary school teacher while one Remi’s brothers became a priest, and his sister joined the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. At the age of 13, Isore’s parish priest noticed the young man’s devotion to God and started to teach him Latin in the hope that he would one day become a priest. Isore commenced studies at the Catholic seminary in Cambrai, and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) three years later. One of his classmates at Cambrai was Leon Mangin, who, like Remigio Isore, later became a martyr in China during the Boxer Rebellion.

In 1881 Isore met with his Provincial Superior and asked to be posted to Zambia, Africa. Africa at the time was a hostile place where missionaries rarely lasted more than a few years before succumbing to violence or disease. When asked why he wanted to be sent to such a difficult place, Isore replied, “Because I long for martyrdom.” The Provincial Superior, who had just returned from visiting China, replied, “You don’t know what you are asking for. You want chances for martyrdom? There are more in China. Fine, you will go to China.”[1] Years later in 1890 Isore provided more information on this dramatic meeting:

“I had heard that it is very difficult to convert Chinese, and so I had never, ever, wanted to go to China. A kind of resentment had slipped into my heart at the very word, China. But the Provincial enlightened me. I understood that it was the will of God that I should go to China. Joy and gratitude then filled my heart.”[2]

Remi Isore arrived in China’s Hebei Province in 1882. He was ordained a priest upon completion of language study in 1886. The following year Isore was appointed administrator of Zhangjiazhuang School and also served as the parish priest at a village near Wei Xian.

When the Boxer uprising commenced, Isore and the other Catholics had no way to leave Hebei, as the Boxers had seized control of the railway, roads, and rivers. Remigio Isore was martyred with Modeste Andlauer on June 19, 1900.