The Chinese PM who became a Catholic priest

Roy Peachey tells the amazing story of the patriot who refused to sign the Versailles Treaty then dramatically embraced the monastic life
26 June 2009

Ninety years ago this Sunday, the foreign minister and former prime minister of China, Lou Tseng-Tsiang, stood alone in refusing to sign the Treaty of Versailles. His act of defiance is all but forgotten today but at the time he returned home a hero. Just over 20 years later that same man, having made one of the most unlikely political journeys of the 20 century, faced the challenges of World War II as a Benedictine monk and priest in Nazi-occupied Belgium.

Born in 1871 into a Protestant family in Shanghai, Lou became a pupil at the local school of foreign languages. After further studies in Beijing, he joined the Chinese legation in St Petersburg as a translator, before eventually entering the diplomatic service in his own right. the rest