Martyrs
From 1850 to today, 19 PIME missionaries have experienced martyrdom.
In 1855, Blessed Giovanni B. Mazzucconi , the first martyr of the Institute, was killed in Oceania.
In 1900 in China, during the Boxer Rebellion, Saint Alberico Crescitelli was killed. Between 1941 and 1942, in a very delicate historical context, the martyrdom of Fr. Cesare Mencattini , Monsignor Antonio Barosi , Fr. Girolamo Lazzaroni , Fr. Mario Zanardi , Fr. Bruno Zanella , Fr. Carlo Osnaghi and Fr. Emilio Teruzzi took place in China .
Between 1950 and 1955, five other PIME missionaries paid with their lives for their testimony of faith in turbulent Burma (now Myanmar): in addition to the Blessed Mario Vergara and Alfredo Cremonesi , the Frs. Pietro Galastri , Pietro Manghisi and Eliodoro Farronato .
In 1972, Fr. Angelo Maggioni was killed in Bangladesh; in 1974, Fr. Valeriano Fraccaro in Hong Kong.
These last three killings reflect the style of PIME’s presence in the country and the methods of missionary testimony adopted, yesterday as today: the denunciation of the abuses of the powerful, the desire to establish a constant dialogue between Christians and Muslims and, finally, the fight in favor of the tribals and their rights.
