Alberic Crescitelli
| Alberic Crescitelli | |
| Born | 30 June 1863, Altavilla Irpina, Italy |
|---|---|
| Died | 21 July 1900, Yanzibian, Shaanxi, China |
| State of life | Missionary priest and martyr |
| Religious institute or church | Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions |
| Ecclesial status | Saint and martyr; canonized on 1 October 2000 |
| Recognition | Beatified in 1951; canonized among the 120 Martyrs of China |
Alberic Crescitelli was an Italian priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions who served the Catholic Church in southern Shaanxi and was killed in China in 1900; he is one of the 120 Martyrs of China canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II.[1]
Overview
Alberico (Alberic) Crescitelli (1863–1900), Chinese name Guo Xide (Chinese: 郭西德), was an Italian Catholic priest and missionary to China. Born in Italy on 30 June 1863, Alberico Crescitelli entered the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1880 and was ordained a priest on 4 June 1887. The following year, he went to China and began work in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Shensi (now Diocese of Hanzhong) in southern Shaanxi.
Crescitelli was believed to have been killed in the Boxer Rebellion. Crescitelli's confreres, who had known him well and for many years, started his beatification cause in 1908, only eight years after his death. The testimony provided by the confreres was unanimous about the holiness of Crescitelli's life.
At the Vatican, in St. Peter's Basilica on 18 February 1951, Pope Pius XII declared Alberico Crescitelli "blessed." The Pope's speech was memorable, especially for the passage in which he described Father Crescitelli's martyrdom:
Humanly speaking, his death was horrible; perhaps one of the most atrocious recorded in history. Nothing was missing, neither the cruelty of the torments, nor the time they lasted, the most barbaric humiliations, nor the suffering of the heart, nor the hypocritical betrayal of false friends, nor the hostile and threatening screams of his murderers, nor the darkness of being abandoned.
Pope John Paul II included him in the list of 120 Martyr Saints of China canonized in St. Peter's Square on October 1, 2000.
This large group canonisation was bitterly opposed in China itself, with Bishop Fu Tieshan, the leader of the state-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, describing it as "intolerable". A statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry alleged that "some of those canonised by the Vatican this time perpetrated outrages such as raping or looting in China and committed unforgivable crimes against the Chinese people." A further statement from China's State Administration of Religious Affairs singled out Alberico Crescitelli for special comment, alleging that he had been "notorious for taking the 'right of the first night' of each bride under his diocese."[2] The Catholic Church's Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong has described the accusations as baseless.[3]
In his homily at the canonisation ceremony on 1 October 2000, Pope John Paul II made a statement asking for forgiveness for any past wrongs by the missionaries to China: "There are those who, with a partial and not very objective reading of history, see only limits and errors in their action. If they happened, is there any man exempt from defects? - We ask for forgiveness."[4]
Life
Origins and formation
Alberic Crescitelli was born at Altavilla Irpina on 30 June 1863 and grew up in a Catholic family within the Diocese of Benevento. At seventeen he entered the Pontifical Seminary of Saints Peter and Paul for the Foreign Missions in Rome, one of the communities later united within the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. His years of formation joined philosophy and theology to the demanding practical preparation expected of a missionary who might live far from European support. He was ordained a priest in 1887. A cholera outbreak delayed his departure and gave the new priest an early occasion to tend the sick in his native district before he sailed for China in 1888. His identity is therefore best understood as that of a missionary priest sent by the Church, not as a political representative of Italy or of any colonial power.[5]
Vocation and ministry
Assigned to the apostolic vicariate in southern Shaanxi, Crescitelli learned the conditions of scattered rural missions along the Han and Jialing river regions. He traveled between small Christian communities, preached, catechized, celebrated Mass, administered the sacraments, and supported charitable provision for poor children. Famine, local conflict, anti-foreign resentment, and the Boxer crisis made the position of both Chinese Catholics and foreign missionaries precarious. In 1900 he was accused of responsibility for shortages despite his efforts to secure fair relief for the population. Captured at Yanzibian, he was tortured and killed on 21 July. The canonical judgment recognizes death in hatred of the faith; it does not turn a tangled social crisis into a simple story of virtuous foreigners opposed to an entire people.
Christian witness and legacy
Spirituality
Crescitelli's surviving correspondence and the testimony preserved by his institute present a priest sustained by the Eucharist, obedience, hope, and affection for the people entrusted to him. Mission meant patient presence: difficult journeys, study of language and custom, sacramental ministry, defense of vulnerable families, and willingness to remain when danger intensified. His martyrdom should be remembered with the Chinese lay women and men whose fidelity formed the great majority of the canonized group. The Catholic understanding of mission neither despises a culture nor baptizes foreign domination. His witness instead asks missionaries to love a people concretely, proclaim Jesus Christ without coercion, and accept personal cost rather than abandon the flock. Prayer in his memory properly includes reconciliation and the flourishing of the Church in China.
Work and historical significance
The most visible legacy of Crescitelli is carried by the communities he served and by the missionary tradition of PIME. He left no vast institution bearing his personal name, yet his ministry illuminates the ordinary foundations of evangelization: local catechists, sacramental life, care for children, material relief, and friendships patiently formed across language and nationality. His story also provides an entry into the history of Christianity in China, the Boxer movement, the unequal pressures surrounding Western presence, and the suffering of Chinese Catholics. Historical study should distinguish contemporary documentation from later dramatic retellings of his death. That discipline strengthens rather than diminishes devotion because it locates his final offering within a life already spent in pastoral charity.
Cause and veneration
Recognition and present status
Crescitelli's reputation as a martyr led to a canonical examination together with other witnesses who died during persecution in China. Pope Pius XII beatified him on 18 February 1951. Pope Saint John Paul II then included him among Augustine Zhao Rong and 119 companions canonized in Saint Peter's Square on 1 October 2000. His exact current title is Saint Alberic Crescitelli, priest and martyr. Canonization authorizes public veneration throughout the Catholic Church and proposes the truth of his martyrdom and sanctity; it does not authenticate every reported detail of the killing or provide an ecclesiastical judgment on every political actor in China at the turn of the twentieth century.[6]
Liturgical and devotional scope
Saint Alberic Crescitelli may be publicly venerated throughout the Catholic Church. The 120 Martyrs of China are commemorated together on 9 July in the Roman Martyrology and approved calendars, while PIME and places connected with Crescitelli may observe an authorized proper celebration on another date. Canonization does not by itself create a universal obligatory memorial on the General Roman Calendar. Public Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours must use approved texts and follow local calendars and liturgical precedence. Private prayer, exact images, and authenticated relics may foster gratitude for missionary courage, but should never be used to inflame national hostility or obscure the Chinese martyrs who offered the same confession of Christ.
References
- Back to citation Dicastery profile of the 120 Martyrs of China — The Dicastery's official group profile identifies Alberic Crescitelli as a PIME priest martyred in southern Shaanxi on 21 July 1900 and records the canonization of the complete group on 1 October 2000.
- Back to citation Christopher Bodeen, "China says Vatican's newest saints were sinners, rapists", Associated Press, 1 October 2000 "China says Vatican's Newest Saints were Sinners, Rapists - Christian Aggression". Archived from the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
- Back to citation "Father Alberico Crescitelli a martyr to incredible and unproven accusations"
- Back to citation "Forgiveness for Missionaries' Errors is Asked", Zenit, 2 October 2000
- Back to citation PIME saints and blesseds — The missionary institute's official history gives Crescitelli's formation, departure for southern Shaanxi, pastoral and charitable work, death during the Boxer crisis, and canonization by Saint John Paul II.
- Back to citation Canonization homily for the Martyrs of China — Saint John Paul II's canonization homily establishes the universal celebration of Augustine Zhao Rong and 119 companions and explains the ecclesial meaning of their fidelity and martyrdom in China.
External links
- Alberico Crescitelli - martire in Cina (Italian) - biography published 2005, Bologna (overview)