5 APR 2018 · Otto Rauschenbach was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 23, 1898 the seventh child in a family of nine. He entered Maryknoll in 1918 following five years in the St. Louis Preparatory Seminary. He was ordained on June 15, 1924 and assigned to South China where he spent the next twenty-one years in Maryknoll’s Kongmoon Vicariate.
Father Otto was a tireless worker who put many new missions on a firm foundation. In most cases these missions were built “from scratch”. His most important work, which did not win many converts at the time, was the breaking down of prejudice and fostering good will among the people. Father used dispensaries and radio broadcasts to interest people in Christ’s message. He was also responsible for many buildings, including the attractive compound at Nanfau and a hospital at Toishan. Thus, he sowed the seeds of future mission strength and the missioners who followed him reaped the rewards of his careful planning.
During the last years of the Second World War, the Kongmoon Territory was partly occupied and completely encircled by the Japanese. Father Rauschenbach was due to return to the States for a furlough but he chose to remain among his people to assist them in their time of need. He had been living in the hills with some other missioners but in order to administer the Sacraments to his Christians on the Feast of Pentecost, Father returned to an area infested with bandits. Early on the morning of May 14, 1945, just after starting on his journey, Father Otto was shot by one of these bandits. The Chinese lost a great friend and Maryknoll a dedicated worker.
A Solemn Mass of Requiem was celebrated at Maryknoll by Father Joseph Ryan on June 9. He was assisted by Father Thomas Malone as Deacon and Father Patrick Cleary as Subdeacon. Father Thomas O’Melia preached the eulogy.
5 APR 2018 · William C. Kruegler was born in Troy, N.Y. on October 1, 1930. After graduating from Troy’s Catholic Central High School in 1948 William entered Lakewood. He was ordained on June 8, 1957 and assigned to Bolivia.
After language school and work in various missions, he was finally assigned to Our Lady of Mercy Parish in the little town of Montero.
Soon after arrival at Montero Father Kruegler met Manglio Saravia, a native Bolivian. Manglio lived next to the rectory in an apartment where he was illegally selling liquor to children. On several occasions Father interrupted Manglio’s business and finally reported him to the civil authorities who took no effective action. Throughout the summer Father McCabe the Pastor, and Brother Camnillus who was also at Our Lady of Mercy, did all they could to stifle Manglio’s harmful influence. On August 6, 1962 at 4:30 in the morning, Father Kruegler tried for the last time to reason with Manglio.
The next evening at about 7:00 p.m. Father Kruegler returned from the prefecture with Fr. McCabe and a Salesian priest, Fr. D’Ana. Father Kruegler walked to the rectory door alone where the intoxicated Manglio was waiting for him. He asked Father the time of the Rosary that night and then fatally shot him. Father Mc Cabe came immediately to his aid. He called a doctor but Father Kruegler died shortly after.
Bishop Rodriguez of Santa Cruz celebrated a Pontifical Requiem Mass which was attended by more than 15,000 people from far and wide to pay tribute to this young priest. Burial was in the cemetery in Montero.
5 APR 2018 · Robert J. Cairns was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on August 21, 1884. Shortly after his birth his family moved to America and settled in Worcester, Mass. Robert attended St. John’s Parochial School and then went to St. John’s High School but family financial difficulties forced him to take a steady job and to continue his education at night. He continued working for eight years until his desire to become a priest led him first into Holy Cross College and then to St. Mary’s, finally to Maryknoll.
Robert was ordained on May 18, 1918 at the age of thirty-four. His first assignment was to the Venard and the following year he was named Procurator at the San Francisco house. Less than a year later he was sent to Yeungkong. It was there that his cheerful, optimistic perseverance became particularly noticeable. For the next twenty years language engaged a great deal of his boundless energy. He was not a proficient linguist by nature but it was his perseverance that made him successful.
In 1923 he was assigned to Fachow arid was joined by Father Charles Walker in 1924. He rented a pagan temple there for three years, turning it into a school which he named Holy Cross after his one time alma mater. In 1926 he was assigned to Sunchong. A few months later the mission was raided by a notorious bandit named Chan Chuk Saam and Fr. Cairns and Bishop Walsh were taken as prisoners.
In America on furlough in 1931 he spent most of his time doing promotion work in Southern and Western dioceses. On returning to China he was sent to Sancian Island. In 1938 Father Joyce was sent to the same place, enabling Fr. Cairns to take a vacation in Hong Kong. While he was in Hong Kong Canton was captured. Volunteers were needed to help the refugees. Father Cairns responded and acted as purchasing agent for the Canton Relief Committee until the spring of 1941. Then he returned to Sancian. War broke out on December 8 of that year and it was learned later through the American Embassy that on the same day a Japanese warship docked at Sheungwan Island, Fr. Cairns’ mission. Entering the church they looted everything in it. On December 14 they again went to the church, kidnapping Fr. Cairns and his interpreter. Some months later Frs. Joyce and Lavin visited the Mandarin of Toi Shan district which includes the island of Sancian and requested an investigation. The Mandarin wrote Fr. Lavin he was convinced that Fr. Cairns met a violent death when he was kidnapped. The only tangible evidence found was Father’s pith helmet found floating in the sea.
4 APR 2018 · Francis X. Ford was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 11, 1892. His father was Editor of “The Freeman’s Journal” and a dedicated champion of Irish freedom. From his youth, Francis was very much influenced by the world of journalism and literature which surrounded him.
He attended St. Francis Preparatory School, Brooklyn, and then Cathedral College, Brooklyn. It was while he was at Cathedral College that Maryknoll was founded. In 1912, after the co-founder of Maryknoll, Father James A. Walsh, spoke to the young men at the College about the newly founded mission society, Francis decided that therein lay his vocation. He became the first student to enter the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 5, 1917, and the following year he accompanied Fathers Price, Meyer and James E. Walsh to China. These men comprised the first Maryknoll departure group. They proceeded to work in Yeungkong and the Kongmoon territory of South China.
In 1925, when the new South China mission territory of Kaying was assigned to Maryknoll, Fathers Ford and Drought formed Maryknoll’s contingent into the new field. Ten years later, on September 21, 1935, Bishop James Anthony Walsh, in his last public official act, consecrated Msgr. Francis Ford as first bishop of Kaying and the mission was raised to a Vicariate. The new bishop returned to China and remained there throughout World War II. During this time he dedicated himself to the care of the countless refugees who flooded the city of Kaying. In 1946 he returned to the United States to attend the General Chapter as delegate of the priests in Kaying.
A little while later he returned to China for what was to be the last time. Many years before he had composed a prayer in which he had asked God: “Grant us….to be the doorstep by which the multitudes may come to Thee.” He was now about to become just such a doorstep.
In October, 1949, the Communists completed their drive to conquer China. On December 3, 1950 the first of the Bishop’s priests and sisters were imprisoned. Two days before Christmas he himself was placed under house arrest. On April 14, 1951, after a public trial, he and his secretary Sister Joan Marie were bound with ropes, placed under an escort of thirty armed soldiers, and taken to Canton prison. Along the entire route of their journey they were insulted and humiliated both physically and verbally, by the Communist-organized demonstrators of the Chinese people. After a year in prison, after much suffering, Bishop Ford died, reportedly on February 21, 1952. The news of his death came with the release of Sister Joan Marie, the following September.
On September 9, 1952 a Pontifical Requiem Mass was celebrated at Maryknoll for the repose of his soul. Bishop Fulton Sheen preached the eulogy. The site of his grave in a public cemetery was marked by a Parish Foreign Mission priest for future identification of the location.
4 APR 2018 · Born in 1904 in McKeesport, Pennslyvania. Gerard Donovan was one of three brothers to come to Maryknoll. Joseph preceded him, while Thomas was to follow. Gerard entered the Venard in 1917 immediately after completing parochial school.
He was ordained June 17, 1928 and, much to his joy, he was assigned to the new and difficult mission of Wuchow, South China. However, he was not to realize this opportunity for, while he was preaching on Promotion in a Brooklyn church, he became ill and was hospitalized for treatment. Upon his recovery he was assigned to the Venard where he taught Latin and Mathematics as also the duties of procuration.
The assignments in the spring of 1931 brought joy to Father Jerry, for once more he was mission bound but this time his destination was Fushun, Manchuria. Here, as in the seminary and at the Venard, his good humor and love of a pun brought a light spirit and a frequent laugh into the routine of mission life.
On the evening of October 15, 1937, Father Jerry was in the sanctuary of his parish church leading the Rosary when a stranger entered with a sheet of paper in his hand. Father Jerry led him into the sacristy where the server, Francis Liu, a 17 year old seminarian was lighting charcoal for Benediction. Then the stranger drew a revolver and forced both Father and Francis out into the yard where another bandit was waiting. A short distance farther on the two were joined by three more. Into the darkness and cold went Father Jerry and Francis, the priest clothed only in cassock and surplice, and the boy in only a cassock, having been ordered to remove his surplice. The Japanese officials, the Chinese people, and the American Consul made every effort to bring about the release of Father. After a time, Francis was let go in order to bring a note demanding fifty thousand dollars ransom. In line with the general policy of refusing to pay ransom for missioners kidnapped by bandits, this demand had to be rejected.
The frigid winter months of Manchuria went by with only unfounded rumors of his presence among the bandits until on February 11, 1938, the frozen remains of the dead missioner were found about a mile and a half from the town of Huai-Jen. A bruise over the right temple suggested that he might have been killed by a blunt instrument, after which he was strangled. The body showed tooth marks of animals. The feet, without shoes, were in such bad shape that it was obvious he could no longer walk. This was very probably the reason the bandits dispatched him. When found, the body was frozen hard as stone, making it difficult for the medical examiner to determine how long Father had been dead. However, he was quite certain that the end had come some time in January.
The body was being prepared for burial at Fushun when Maryknoll cabled instructions to return the remains of Father Jerry to the Motherhouse for burial.
At Fushun a Pontifical Mass of Requiem was celebrated in the presence of government officials as well as the American Consulate. Members of the Protestant community were present to offer their tribute. St. Joseph’s Church was too small for the Christians and non-Christians who sought entrance. Monsignor Lane preached the eulogy in Chinese and Japanese. Father Thomas Donovan was unable to reach Manchuria in time for the funeral but arrived in Japan to salute his brother’s remains and to watch for some hours at the bier in the cabin of the oceanliner. Father Joseph, Jerry’s eldest brother met the body in the States. The interment took place on May 2nd at Maryknoll, N.Y.
4 APR 2018 · Born: October 26, 1888
Ordained: June 23, 1915
Died: November 25, 1950
Patrick J. Byrne was born October 26, 1888 in Washington, D.C. He was educated by the Sulpician Fathers at St. Charles College and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained on June 23, 1915 and a week later came to Maryknoll with the permission of Cardinal Gibbons.
In the first days of Maryknoll there was little that Father Byrne was not responsible for at one time or other. He supervised the building at Maryknoll and at Scranton. He was Rector of both seminaries, Editor of the Field Afar, Vicar General and Treasurer.
In 1923 Father Byrne was chosen to begin the mission in Korea. Four years later he was raised to the rank of Monsignor and named Prefect Apostolic of Pyongyong. He laid the foundation well, so that the Church remained strong in Korea when the missioners were interned at the beginning of World War II. The Catholic population had increased by 25,000 souls and there were sufficient Korean priests and sisters. In 1929 Fr. Byrne returned to Maryknoll as a delegate to the first General Chapter. On this occasion he was elected Assistant Superior General.
His second mission career began in 1935 when he was selected to open a new mission field in Kyoto, Japan. Two years later he was named Prefect Apostolic of Kyoto and elevated again to the rank of Monsignor. Shortly before the war he, together with other foreign ordinaries, resigned this post in favor of a young Japanese priest. Because of his many charitable works the Japanese did not imprison him during the war but kept him under house arrest. He was asked to make radio broadcasts to the Japanese people as the American forces advanced to occupy Japan. These messages calmed the people and Japan was occupied without the loss of a single life. Later General McArthur praised Father Byrne’s help and cooperation.
In 1947 Father Byrne was elevated for the third time to the rank of Monsignor and named Apostolic Visitor to Korea by the Holy See. Two years later he was appointed the first Apostolic Delegate to Korea and was named Titular Bishop of Gazera. A year after his consecration, on July 2, 1950, he was seized by the Communists and put on trial. Refusing to give in, he began the long march to the Yalu through the old Maryknoll mission territory. In Pyongyong there was another trial and then another march which lasted for more than four months in the worst weather and a minimum of food and shelter. Bishop Byrne became ill in November and finally succumbed to pneumonia. He told his companions: “After the privilege of my priesthood, I regard this privilege of having suffered for Christ with all of you as the greatest of my life.” The next morning, November 25, 1950, Bishop Byrne died, having received absolution the night before from Father William Booth, his secretary. Monsignor Quinlan, a Columban Father, and Prefect Apostolic of Chunchon, recited the prayers at the grave from memory and buried Bishop Byrne in his own cassock.
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| Author | Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers |
| Organization | Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers |
| Categories | Society & Culture |
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