Liu Ziyn, Peter, St.

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LIU ZIYN, PETER, ST.

Lay martyr, potter; b. 1843. Zhujiaxie, Shen County, Hebei (Hopeh) Province, China; d. there, July 17, 1900. At the height of the Boxer persecution, many of the Christians in the predominantly Catholic village of Zhujiaxie sought refuge in Tangqui in Ningcing County. The bachelor Peter Liu Ziyn (also given as Tzu-yü, Tzeu-U, or Zeyu) determined to remain and trust in God. He was captured, ordered to apostatize, and beheaded and disemboweled upon refusal. Because of his courage before his tormentors, he was beatified by Pope Pius XII on April 17, 1955 and canonized on Oct. 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II with Augustine Zhao Rong and companions.

Bibliography: l. miner, China's Book of Martyrs: A Record of Heroic Martyrdoms and Marvelous Deliverances of Chinese Christians during the Summer of 1900 (Ann Arbor 1994). j. simon, Sous le Sabre des Boxers (Lille 1955). c. testore, Sangue e Palme Sul Fiume Giallo. I Beati Martiri Cinesi Nella Persecuzione Della Boxe Celi Sud-Est, 1900 (Rome 1955). L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. Ed. 40 (2000): 12, 10.

[k. i. rabenstein]