China Mission

Though Christian evangelization in China had been carried on as early as the sixth century, it was not until the early part of the twentieth century that Benedictines began missionary activity among the Chinese. At the request of two Chinese scholars that the Holy See open a university under Catholic auspices in Peking, Pius XI asked the Benedictines of the Archabbey of St. Vincent, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to undertake this work. In 1924 the Catholic University of Peking (Fu Jen University) was established. The university prospered, and by 1929 Pius XI expressed a wish that opportunities for higher education be offered to Chinese women and girls as well. He asked specifically that the Benedictine community in St. Joseph, Minnesota, be invited to establish a women's college in connection with Fu Jen University. The appeal to the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph, Minnesota, came through Father Francis Clougherty, as a representative of Pius XI and the Apostolic Delegate in Peking. In August, 1929, Father Francis appeared at St. Benedict's Convent with a request for Sisters to work in Peking, China. On September 1, the community chapter voted to accept this call and thus committed St. Benedict's Convent to mission work in China. By the spring of 1930 Mother Louise Walz had chosen six Ssisters from a list of 100 volunteers to pioneer the community's first foreign mission. They were: Sister Francetta Vetter, Sister Regia Zens, Sister Ronayne Gergen, Sister Rachel Lou1an, Sister Donalda Terhaar, and Sister Wibora Muehlenbein. On August 31, 1930, these six Sisters left St. Benedict's for the West Coast, where they boarded the Empress of Japan at Victoria, British Columbia, September 4. After a 20-day ocean voyage, the group disembarked on Chinese shores on September 24. For more information about the history of Saint Benedict's Monastery call 320-363-7035, email [email protected] or write to Saint Benedict's Monastery Archive, 104 Chapel Lane, Saint Joseph, MN 56374.