MISSIONER’S TRAGIC DEATH IN CHINA.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 77, 31 March 1931, Page 1

MISSIONER’S TRAGIC DEATH IN CHINA.

(United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—r Copyright.) (Received March 31, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, March 30. Tragic details of the sufferings of Father Cornelius Tierney, director of St Columan’s Mission at Kein-chang, who died in captivity on March 5, have reached Ireland. Father Tierney was captured by brigands while saying Mass. His hands were tied and he was brutally beaten, after which the brigands threw a soldier’s cloak over his shoulders and mocked him. He was kept alive for five days with one hand tied to his body, his only food being rice. When the bandits left Kien-chang they dragged him alongside until he fell, injuring an ankle, whereupon he was tied to a ladder, carried to Nan Feng and handed over to Communists, who demanded a ransom of 40,000 dollars. Father Tierney sent a letter to a colleague asking for his prayers to enable him to bear his sufferings. He added that he was quite resigned to die. The British Legation repeatedly made fruitless efforts to secure his release.