His Holliness Pope John Paul II will proclaim the 120 Blessed Martyrs of China as Saints on October 1, 2000. Martyrdom is "the voluntary endurance or acceptance of death on account of one's faith in Christ or some other act of virtue related to God." "martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The Martyrs bear witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity".

Among these new Saints, there are 87 Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries, among whom 6 were bishops, 23 priests, 1 brother, 7 sisters, 7 seminarians, and 76 lay person. From these 120 saints, the oldest was 79 years old, and the youngest was only 7 years old.

The Martyrs persecuted and killed during the Boxer Rebellion were centered in Shanxi and other neighboring provinces. The total number of these Saints is unknown, but the following were arrested in Taiyuan when the Government sealed off the Cathedral. Those arrested include two bishops, three priests, seven sisters, seven seminarians, ten employees and several women. They were taken into custody somewhere outside the Cathedral area in Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province. They were allowed to say mass and pray, and could also receive visitors. Their execution took place on July 9th, 1900, and were all beatified by Pope Pius XII on November 24th, 1947.