In 1923 he headed the parish of the Holy Cross at Acquabella [it] near Milan. In 1925 he was chosen, with other priests, to establish the first Stigmatine mission in China.[2] He arrived in China in January 1926. In 1929, he was appointed the superior of the independent mission in Yixian, Hebei. When the Apostolic Prefecture of Yixian was created in 1936, he became its first apostolic prefect.[1]
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the invading Japanese forces controlled the Catholic mission in Yixian in 1937. Martina was also kidnapped by communist forces in June 1945 and detained for 40 days. Later, after the Japanese withdrew, the communist forces took over Yixian. Martina eventually decided to abandon the mission and move to Beijing, where he established a minor seminary.[2]
After the Chinese Civil War, the Apostolic Nunciature to China moved to Taiwan, but Martina remained as the sole representative of the Holy See in mainland China, in place of the nuncio Antonio Riberi.[2][3] The Chinese government accused Martina of being involved with Antonio Riva in the Tian'anmen Mortar Plot, a conspiracy to kill Mao Zedong and other PRC officials by firing a mortar at the Tian'anmen during the National Day parade on 1 October 1950.[3] He was held at Beijing,[4] and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[3]Time magazine called him "the first Catholic clergyman to be sentenced to life in prison" by China.[3] His ankles were chained for four months at the beginning of his imprisonment. In May 1952, he was assigned to make matchboxes.[5] He was released on 26 December 1954 and expelled to British Hong Kong. He returned to Italy on 26 January 1955, retired in Verona, and died there on 12 November 1961.[2]
See also
Paul Yu Pin, Cardinal archbishop of Nanjing, expelled to Taiwan in 1949
^According to the 1940 Lazarist annual Les Missions de Chine, Martina entered the Stigmatine seminary in Verona in 1903 and was ordained a priest in 1907.[1]
Bovolini, Marco (2011). "Martina Tarcisio". In Cesare Scalon; Claudio Griggio; Giuseppe Bergamini (eds.). Dizionario Biografico dei Friulani (in Italian). Forum, Udine University. ISBN978-8884206688. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
Further reading
Cancian, T. (1990). Gemona con gli Stimmatini, 1900-1990. Udine: Arti Grafiche Friulane. pp. 187–191.
Curto, M. (2003). Dalle trincee del Carso alle prigioni di Mao. Mons. Tarcisio Martina prefetto apostolico di Yihsien [From the trenches of the Karst to Mao's prisons: Mons. Tarcisio Martina, apostolic prefect of Yixian]. Roma: Grafica.