Martyrdom in the 20th century built a bridge between East and West, linking different cultures. This is the “lesson” we learn from the experience of Fr Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung, first Thai priest martyr, beatified on March 5 in Rome. Bangkok diocese celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving for Fr Nicholas’ beatification and plans to build a shrine in his memory.
In 1939, while in Europe the Second World War was breaking out, Indochina was fighting to gain control of certain territories ruled by France. French missionaries played a major part in the evangelization of this area. A local Catholic tells Fides: “The Thai people misunderstood the Church: they saw it as part of French culture and began to persecute foreign missionaries as well as Thai priests and laity. Schools the Church had opened were closed, many churches destroyed, local Catholics were hunted down”. But Fr Nicholas, who knew he was working for the good of his people, did not hide: he bravely continued to attend to his pastoral duties. On January 12, 1941 he was arrested with nine other Catholics accused of being a French spy and collaborator. After nine months in prison he was condemned to 15 years detention. In prison he contracted tuberculosis and three years later, died on January 12 1944, after suffering torture and privation.
Fr John Bosco Sukhum Kitsanguan, a priest of Bangkok diocese, is a great-nephew of Fr Nicholas. On March 5 he was a concelebrant at the solemn Mass of Beatification presided by Pope John Paul II. “My mother - Fr John Bosco tells Fides – loves to tell the story of Fr Nicholas. While Nicholas was still young, his uncle who was studying for the priesthood encouraged him to enter the same seminary. His mother sent him thinking he would soon return”. But Nicholas did not come back. “After his ordination – Fr Bosco recalls – the Bishop, Mgr Rene Parros (Paris Foreign Missions) loved him so for his energy and enthusiasm, that he desired to have him at his side. Fr Nicholas is truly a son for me since I baptized and ordained him, the Bishop used to say”.
“Fr Nicholas was a great evangelizer. Catholics in Chiengdao recall that Fr Nicolas used to obtain permission to preach in the Buddhist temple and he did it very well. He was also very concerned for the poor. Once when his family gave him money to buy a new cassock he preferred to keep his tattered robe and give the money to the needy.”
An elderly Catholic woman who studied catechism with him said: “once he asked his class if they were afraid of death. When the answer was yes, he replied that he was not afraid because the suffering of death was nothing compared to eternal happiness in Heaven.”
Sr Basilia Sunee Suppasri visited Fr Nicholas in prison. She recalls how difficult it was to obtain permission. “Everything had to be written in Thai”. She and Bishop Parros went twice to the prison. In 1994, writing about persecution in Thailand the Bishop said: “I am deeply saddened at the loss of Nicholas, the best priest we had unjustly accused with four others of supporting the French in the Indo-China War. The whole time in prison Fr Nicholas consoled the prisoners, taught them catechism and baptized no less than 68 prison inmates”. (W. K. ) (5/5/2000)