“Living with ‘God’s noblemen.’ In my years as a Passionist, I have been privileged to live with God’s noblemen - men of genuine holiness and achievers of great successes for the people of God. Early on, China absorbed scores of Passionists who left the west to move to a hostile country. Bandits and cholera took lives. Japanese and Communist armies wrought devastation even deep in the interior of China where the Passionists labored. The missionaries would be jailed and, as their health failed, the Communists did not want them to die from their mistreatment. They left China on stretchers.

From there, the Passionists took the Cross to Japan, Korea and India. Fr. Carl Schmitz did Christ’s work in Alabama, Japan and the Philippines. It was there he died from an assassin’s bullets because he proclaimed and fought for the justice and charity of Christ as the Lord’s faithful missionary. The Philippine Province is in hopes of seeing him declared a martyr and a candidate for beatification.”

Fr. Fred Sucher, CP, 3.26.08


We invite you to send us your answer to this question. Please note that submissions may be posted on this website.