Patrick Cleary

For four years, until 1918, he was a professor and the chair of moral theology in Maynooth.[1][2] He then taught at the St Columban's College seminary in Dalgan in County Galway of the Maynooth Mission to China, later known as the Missionary Society of Saint Columban.[1] In 1918, the Columban Fathers was formed and he was among the first group of men to join.[4] For eleven years, beginning in 1919, he was the rector.[1]

He served the Society in Nancheng, China beginning in 1931, replacing the martyred Columban priest Cornelius Tierney who had been kidnapped by communist guerrillas and subsequently died.[1][2] After arriving in Nancheng, he wrote to a friend that "It is simply delightful, with a charming church, a compound full of buildings that would house an army."[2] While in China, his primary activity was teaching students at his seminary. The courses that he covered were theology, scripture, canon law, philosophy, and the English language.[1]

On 21 July 1933, he was appointed Prefect Apostolic. He became Vicar Apostolic in December 1938 and the following April he was ordained a bishop.[1][2] At times he was at odds with the "Roman" model or approach for operating the church. For instance, while a bishop, he did not adopt the approach to build congregants by taking in and baptising abandoned children.[5]

During World War II (1939-1945), according to an obituary, he aided people that needed assistance, including Doolittle's Raiders, who had crashed near the city in 1942 after bombing Tokyo. One month after the rescue, the city was attacked and Cleary nearly died several times. The entire city was burned in retaliation for having aided Doolittle's men. He aided anyone that needed help, including Chinese and Japanese people.[4] In 1942, Cleary established the Nancheng Relief Committee.[6] In Nancheng, he became the first bishop of the Diocese of Nancheng in 1947 on the feast day of the Most Holy Rosary. He became the Most Reverend Patrick Cleary.[2]

On 1 October 1949, the People's Republic of China was established.[7] In a drive against foreigners, his and other religious figures began to lose their personal freedom in December 1950. Rural churches began to be repurposed to granaries or meeting places for the communists.[8] He stayed in China until 15 December 1952, when he was expelled[9] held under house arrest for one year, imprisoned, and taken to court on "trumped up charges" of being an imperialist and oppressor after he refused to join a communist-sponsored church. After being found guilty by the court, he was taken to Hong Kong and then returned to Ireland after stopping at Tokyo in 1953. Two of the Chinese priests that served with him were still in prison when he left.[8] Cleary was left frail and unsteady after the ordeal.[10]

During his time in China, he never took a vacation or left the country.[9]