Bishop Francis X. Ford, MM with new Christians in Jiangmen, China, 1923

This is a photograph of Fr. Francis X. Ford, MM with a group of Christians who have gathered together for a photograph. Fr. Ford holds a crying baby in the second row. The people range from the youngest baby to older women and men.; Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bishop Ford was the first student to enter the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 5, 1917 and the following year he accompanied Fathers Price, Meyer and James E. Walsh to China. They began working in Yeungkong and the Kongmoon territory of South China. In 1925, Fr. Ford was assigned to the Kaying diocese. Ten years later, in 1935, Bishop James Anthony Walsh, founder of Maryknoll, consecrated Msgr. Francis Ford as the first Bishop of Kaying. He remained in China throughout World War II. In 1950 Bishop Ford was placed under arrest with his secretary Sr. Joan Marie, MM, placed on trial and sentenced to prison. After a year in prison, Bishop Ford died on February 21, 1952. Sr. Joan Marie confirmed his death when she was released the following September