Nationality Canadian | Name Prosper Bernard | |
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Born May 25, 1902 ( 1902-05-25 ) Canada Died March 18, 1943, Fengxian District, Shanghai, China | ||
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Prosper Bernard, S.J. (in Chinese: 那士荣; pinyin: Nà Shì Róng) (May 25, 1902 – March 18, 1943) was a Canadian Jesuit priest who was executed by a Japanese officer in China in 1943.
In 1935, he became a Jesuit priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He left for China in January 1938, a week after Dr. Norman Bethune, the famous Canadian medical doctor. In China, he took the Chinese name of Nà Shì Róng. At that time, Japan was occupying part of China. On December 8, 1941, he was both director of the school of Taolou and that village's pastor when Canada, the United States, and Britain declared war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was immediately arrested and brought to Fengxian, 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away, and put in house arrest in the church compound with two other Canadian priests. These three Canadian priests continued to operate a school from inside that same church compound in Fengxian. On March 18, 1943, they were executed by a Japanese officer for trying to preserve this school. In 1990, the people of Fengxian erected a monument to their memory.