Remembering Clement Seybold,
Godfrey Holbein and Walter Coveyou, three Passionist Missionaries in Hunan Province, China.
On April 24, 1929, three dedicated, Passionist missionaries lost their lives in Hua-chiao, China. Fathers Walter Coveyou, Clement Seybold and Godfrey Holbein were robbed and murdered by a band of thieves while traveling to the Passionist Mission at Yuanchow, Hunan. Unarmed and vulnerable, the three had just taken part in an annual retreat and were returning to the mission post. Their bodies were found in an abandoned mine shaft. This tragedy marked the first time that American Catholic missionaries were killed while working to bring the message of Christ to China.
The area of western Hunan was a lawless region in the late 1920s. Controlled by war lords, the area had become so dangerous that travelers were forced to use armed escorts to get around. The Chinese government was powerless against the local armies who routinely robbed and killed foreigners. The American and Chinese governments, along with authorities from Vatican City worked tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice, however, their efforts were not successful. Though it cannot be said for certain if the three were killed because of their role as Catholic missionaries, it was well known in the emerging Communist nation that those preaching faith in God were seen as threats.
The brave Passionist missionaries left the safety of their homes to minister to a people in great need. With them, they brought not only the saving message of Christ’s death and resurrection but also food, medical supplies and the promise of order in a chaotic place. Their great hope was to bring the saving message of Christ Crucified to a people longing for hope. The deaths of these three great men brought cries of martyrdom around the globe.
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Father Godfrey Holbein professed his vows in 1917 and volunteered for missionary work in China several years later. No stranger to the political turmoil in Communist China, Father Holbein had been forced to evacuate his local Hunan mission due to dangerous conditions in 1927. After much deliberation, he had asked to return to the states to mission to African-American Catholics in North Carolina. Unfortunately, he never returned. Instead, he would be executed in this unthinkable ambush.
Father Clement Seybold entered the Passionist Preparatory Seminary in 1914. Ordained in 1923, he volunteered for the mission in China with great enthusiasm. Contemporaries remembered his strong command of the difficult Chinese dialect and his confidence in such important work in the troubled country.
Father Walter Coveyou was a native mid-westerner. After living and working in Michigan and Ohio for several years after his ordination in 1920, he traveled to China in 1928. The Chinese missionary work was something he believed in strongly. Only six months into his service there, Father Coveyou was shot and killed in the attack.
Today, the resting place of Fathers Seybold, Coveyou and Holbein in west Hunan is marked with a memorial to their great sacrifice. We remember them and their great contribution to the roots of Christianity in China today. Because of their efforts, Christianity took hold and grew even as the repression of Communism flourished. They are owed our great respect and gratitude.
