Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse

Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse - (1750 - 1815) - bishop missionary in China where it undergoes the martyr. He belongs to the group of the 120 martyrs of China, canonized by the Pope Jean Paul II, on October 1st of the Holy year 2000, in the festival of Sainte Therese of the Child-Jesus, owner of the Missions.

Life

Studies and vocation

Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse was born on December 8th 1750 with Lezoux in the Puy-de-Dôme. He attended the clerical school of his village, for then continuing his studies with the college of Riom.

He left afterwards for Paris, initially studied with Louis Large the, then with the seminar of Saint Sulpice.

Already with the college, he had heard of the Foreign missions of Paris by one of his professors, the abbot of Saint Martin's day, party then for the China. He entered as deacon to the seminar of the Foreign missions on July 2nd 1774 and was ordered priest on December 17th 1774.

One year afterwards, it left for the China, on December 4th 1775.

Arrival in China

In 1776 Gabriel-Taurin left Macao to gain the interior of the grounds, disguised in Chinese. It reached the Sichuan after more than three months of voyage. He is then imprisoned first once at Beijing and is slackened.

As soon as he had learned the Chinese language sufficiently, monseigneur Pottier sent it in the north of the province.

At the end of 1784, a persecution anti-Christian woman burst. Gabriel-Taurin was stopped, and succeeds in escaping to take refuge in a friendly Christian house. It is there that it accepted a word of the bishop coadjutor, monseigneur de Saint-Martin, who invited it to deliver himself, in order to alleviate the disorders.

He obeys and left for Tchen-Tou where it arrived on February 27th 1785, it was put there in prison during a few weeks before being transferred to Beijing with monseigneur de Saint-Martin and two other missionaries, Delpon and Devaux. There, it undergoes the many ones and painful interrogations before being finally released on November 9th 1785.

However, although released, the missionaries did not have the right to turn over to the Sichuan. The Dufresse Father thus asked for the authorization of go to Macao, hoping to be able to return from there on his grounds of mission. One led it to Canton, where it took an out-going vessel for the Filipino . After a long stay with Manila, it was finally brought back to Macao by a French ship. And of Macao under very difficult conditions of travel, it finally could, on January 14th 1789, to regain the Sichuan.

In Sichuan

At the end of 4 years, it is named provicaire. He baptizes children and adults, receives new catechumens, hears thousands of confessions and visit of many communities.

In 1800 it is coadjutor of monseigneur de Saint-Martin and in 1801 it is named apostolic vicar province of the Sichuan. It succeeded thus monseigneur de Saint-Martin.

Monseigneur Dufresse held a synod, in September 1803 whose decisions were highly approved with Rome and were given in example to the other missions in China. Conversions were multiple and work missionary progressed: each year of 1500 to 2200 Chinese were baptized.

Arrest and martyrdom

Starting from 1805, the edicts of proscriptions against the Christians reappeared, at the instigation of the local well-read men. The viceroy of the Sichuan published new ordinances and Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse had to take again a life of wandering, tracked by its adversaries. May 18th, the bishop was stopped.

One led it to Tchen-Tou, where he was condemned to death. Thirty three Christians had been taken along with him and were condemned to the exile, while on September 14th 1815, the Dufresse bishop was decapitated.

The skin of Gabriel-Taurin Defresse was buried three days later by the faithful ones. Four years after, a Chinese priest of the name of Flax made them transport in the catholic cemetery. The head of the bishop had been recovered by bonzes who gave it to the Father Flax.

These relics were sent in 1856 per monseigneur Perocheau to the prosecutor of the Foreign missions of Paris to HongKong, then brought to Paris in 1857 per monseigneur Pellegrin. They currently rest in the crypt of the church of the seminar of the Foreign missions of Paris.

Other martyrs

One day of 1785, while Gabriel-Taurin belonged to a convoy of prisoners, one of its guards, upset by the faith and the patience of the bishop, converted and even became priest later. It was about Augustin Zhao Rong which will be martyrisé in 1815.

It is the same for Joseph Yuan, also converted to him at that time, which will be ordered priest and decree in 1816 after having évangélisé a vast area; he will be strangled on June 24th 1817.

These two men as more than one hundred of others belong to the group of the 120 martyrs of China.

Beatification - canonization

the Cause of Beatification of Gabriel-Taurin was introduced on July 9th 1843. The brief of Beatification was signed by Leon XIII on May 7th 1900, and the ceremony of beatification took place with Rome on May 27th 1900.
Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse was canonized with Rome on October 1st 2000 with Rome by Jean Paul II.

Celebrates

The September 14th.

Quotation

“ Plus one will know oneself, more one will be far away from the feelings of pride. ”

Sources

Osservatore Romano: 2000 n.39 p.9-10 - N. 40 p.1-7 - n.41 p.7.10
Catholic Documentation: 2000 n.19 p.906-908

External bond

Files of the Foreign missions of Paris - Bibliography supplements

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