Passionist Father
Marcellus White A Living Legacy
by Fr. Rob Carbonneau, C.P.
Father Marcellus White, C.P. visits in China.
A gift of $10,000 has been given to St. Paul of the Cross Province by the family of Passionist Father Marcellus White. It is their wish to establish THE FATHER MARCELLUS WHITE, C.P. CHINA EDUCATION AND FRIENDSHIP TRUST. It is administered through the offices of the Passionist Historical Archives, 526 Monastery Place Union City, NJ 07087.
From 1935 until 1955 he was a missionary in the western region of Hunan province. His zeal for the Gospel was obvious in his tireless desire to administer the sacraments to Chinese Catholics. Likewise, he showed incredible compassion for the many Chinese refugees displaced by war in China during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. During the 1940s Father Marcellus was even a part-time chaplain to pilots from the famous "Flying Tigers" squadron led by Claire Chennualt. One of their air fields was in Zhijiang, [Chihkiang] Hunan, the same place where the Passionists and Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, Pennsylvania had a parish mission.
Father Marcellus White was born November 28, 1908 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died on May 15, 2002 in Brockton, Massachusetts. The son of Richard and Johanna Deasy White, he attended St. Mary's High School, Waltham, Massachusetts from 1922 until 1926. He then entered the Passionists. On August 15, 1928, he professed his Passionist vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and his promise to promote the memory of the Passion of Jesus. This was done in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Richard was his baptismal name; Marcellus was his religious name. Seminary training followed. He was ordained a Passionist priest on April 28, 1934 in Scranton. After another year in Scranton, Pennsylvania for Sacred Eloquence—a training course in preaching—he was assigned to the Passionist mission in Hunan, China.
Little did Father Marcellus White suspect, however, that he would become most famous because he was imprisoned by the Chinese Communists. Arrested on February 24, 1952 in Yungshun, Hunan, he was transferred to the Yuanling, Hunan jail. There he lived, eventually, in solitary confinement with his fellow Passionist Father Justin Garvey, who was also arrested. All their actions were monitored even to the point of standing or sitting. Both Fathers Marcellus and Justin were arrested because the Communists considered them to be imperialists. Eventually both were released on November 19, 1955 into Hong Kong.
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