Wuhan: We all know that Wuhan in China was the origin of the coronavirus that spread throughout the world. It was from the same Wuhan that the first saint from China was martyred. He was a missionary from France. Jean-Gabriel Perbore was executed on a cross in 1840 after being brutally tortured. The martyrdom came about after a Jean-Gabriel Perboire-trained Chinese man sold him for money.
Dr. Anthony Clarke, a Chinese historian, stayed in Wuhan to do research on the life of Gabriel Perbore and another martyr, Saint Francis Regis Klett. He shared his thoughts with the Catholic News Agency yesterday. Wuhan, who had only the corona’s origin, has become a source of sorrow for the saints.
Wuhan later became the center of Catholic missionaries. Several hospitals were built here. The Catholic community in China has undergone much persecution during the years of Mao and during the Chinese Revolution. During this period, the believing community maintained the medium of saints. He explained that he had visited a seminary where the relics of that time had been stored and that he could see in his people the respect for the Holy Eucharist and the Vincentian missionaries who became martyrs in Chinese soil.
In 1889 Pope Leo XIII was elevated to the rank of bishop. Saint Teresa of Lissau had a special devotion to Gabriel Perbore. Teresa kept a card written in her prayer book with the saint. In 1996, Gabriel Perbore and Francis Regis Clut were elevated to the rank of Pope. In these days of Corona, we can seek the intercession of these saints.
