Feast day: July 9
Between 1648 and 1930, 87 Chinese-born Catholics and 33 non-Chinese-born Catholics, mostly priests and women religious, were martyred by Chinese authorities. Many died during the Boxer Rebellion, in which Chinese citizens afraid of Catholic influence murdered thousands of Christians.
The martyrs mentioned above refused to renounce their Catholic faith. Saint Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who escorted a bishop to his martyrdom, only to be so moved by the example of the bishop that he converted to Catholicism, became a priest, and was martyred in 1815.
These saints were canonized in 2000.
(Image in public domain-70)