About Bishop Xavier Ford, M.M.
& the Guild
Who was Bishop Ford?
Born: January 11, 1892 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn,
New York
Ordained a Priest: December 5, 1917
Consecrated Bishop: September 21, 1935
Died: February 21, 1952 in China
Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M. was the sixth of eight children born to deeply religious parents in Brooklyn, New York on January 11, 1892. Bishop Ford attended St. Joseph’s School and Cathedral College in Manhattan. He later joined the seminary where he was ordained a priest on December 5, 1917 at Maryknoll in Ossining, N.Y. He was attracted to the priesthood and the missions. He was passionate about the need for native vocations.
Bishop Ford became the first Maryknoll seminarian and on September 8, 1918, he along with three Maryknoll priests, including Father Thomas F. Price, were sent on the first overseas mission for the U.S. church to China. He worked for decades in China where he built schools, hostiles, and churches. In 1949, he was installed as Bishop.
During his missionary work in China, he was captured by Chinese Communists in April 1951, was arrested, and convicted on charges of espionage. He was tortured and died as a martyr in a Guangzhou prison camp on February 21, 1952.
Bishop Ford was the first American Roman Catholic bishop and the fourth American civilian known to have died in the prisons of Chinese Communists.
In 1962, the Diocese of Brooklyn named one of its new diocesan high schools after Bishop Ford. Bishop Ford Diocesan High School, later named Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was located in Park Slope.
About the Guild
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio formally announced the opening of the cause for Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M.’s sainthood at the Mass celebrating the 100th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Bishop Ford on December 3, 2017 at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral in Prospect Heights, the home parish of Bishop Ford before he joined the Maryknoll Foreign Mission Society.
Support the Cause for Beatification and Canonization of The Servant of God:
- Keep alive the memory of Servant of God, Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M.
- Teach others about his life, ministry, heroism, and faithful death
- Provide spiritual and financial support to the cause for beatification and canonization
- Promote devotion and veneration of the servant of God, Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M.
