This is a photograph of Father J. E. Walsh [seated] at his visit to Luoding with Fr. Kennelly [second from the right]. They are greeted by the people of Luoding. Born in Maryland, Fr. James E. Walsh graduated from Mt. St. Mary's College at age 19 and worked two years as a timekeeper in a steel mill. He entered the first class of Maryknoll in 1912 and in 1915 became the second priest ordained in the Society. Three years later. 1918, he was assigned to Kwong Tung (present Guangdong), China. Pope Pius XI named Fr. Walsh as the first Bishop of the Vicariate of Kongmoon. He was consecrated a Bishop in 1927 at Shepherd of the Church on Sancian Island the death place of St. Francis Xavier. In 1936, Bishop Walsh was elected second Superior General following the death of Bishop James A. Walsh, the founder of Maryknoll. In 1948 he as asked to return to China to head the Catholic Central Bureau in Shanghai. In 1951 the government closed the bureau. He was arrested in 1959 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 1970 he was released after spending nearly 12 years in prison. -- Born in New York, Fr. Kennelly came to Maryknoll in 1916 and was hoping to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, a Jesuit, who served many years in Shanghai. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1926 and left for Kongmoon, China, the same year. He began work in the Loting Orphanage and in 1936 considered it a great honor to bring the body of Maryknoll co-founder Rev. Thomas F. Price back to Maryknoll. He returned to Kongmoon in 1937 as Society Superior of that mission and held the role until 1948. The Loting Mission was often bombed or attacked by bandits. His work ended in 1951 in Kongmoon when he was arrested, interrogated and expelled to Hong Kong. In 1951 he started another 25 year career missioned in Hawaii.
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