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This week’s missionary hero is a Belgian man whose missionary efforts were so great, he was often called the “Apostle of Modern China.” His name was Frederic.
Frederic Vincent Lebbe was born in Ghent, Belgian on August 19, 1877. His father was a Catholic Belgian and notary, and his mother was a French-English Catholic convert. When he was 11-years old, he read about Fr. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre (now a Saint), a member of the Congregation of the Missions who was martyred in China.
In 1895, Frederic entered the Congregation of the Missions (C.M.), an order also known as the Vincentians, Missionhurst, and Lazarists. According to reports, Frederic had a great desire not only to be a missionary, but also a martyr.
In 1901, Frederic went to China with the Bishop of Beijing and was ordained the same year.
From the beginning of his missionary life, Fr. Frederic believed that that true missionaries should become as much like the people as possible. So, he did his best to become a “Chinese to the Chinese,” a phenomenon that sociologists call “going native.” He wore Chinese clothes, learned Mandarin, and immersed himself in the culture of the people. In time, he also tried to convince Catholic leaders that the Church in China should be led by Chinese, not foreigners. This belief, which was not popular at the time in missiology, made him unpopular with some of the “higher-ups” in his order.
Fr. Frederic brought many gifts to the mission field such as a sharp intellect, facility with learning new languages, passion about serving the people, his love of the faith, the ability to preach effectively, and his use of the written word as a powerful missionary tool. Fr. Frederic often found himself speaking to groups of intellectuals and movers and shakers of society. He also formed associations for Catholic laymen to spread the Faith.
One of the most powerful things Fr. Frederic did, however, was to use printed media as a missionary tool. In 1912, for example, he partnered with a Catholic man who was a former editor of a Chinese newspaper, and they gathered writers. Together, they stated the first Catholic weekly newspaper in China. The paper was very influential not only in the Catholic Church, but also in political circles.
Then, in 1916, Fr. Lebbe started a large Catholic daily newspaper called People’s Welfare Daily. In three months, it was a leading newspaper in north China. The newspaper then produced editions in Beijing and Shanghai, a weekly magazine for women, a magazine for missionaries, and a children’s weekly.
Because of his highly successful missionary work, even the Vatican was impressed. In fact, six men whom Fr. Frederic recommended to become Chinese bishops were, indeed, named bishops by the pope.
Fr. Lebbe also founded the Little Brothers of St. John and the Little Sisters of St. Teresa, as well as auxiliary groups for priests and women.When the Communists took over China, they captured Fr. Frederic Lebbe on March 9, 1940. The Communists treated him as a spy and brainwashed him and physically mistreated him for six weeks. This treatment led to Fr. Frederic becoming very ill, and he died in Chungking of exhaustion on June 24, 1940.
