Maurice Tornay was born in
Valais in Switzerland on 31 August 1910 as the seventh of eight children to Jean-Joseph Tornay and Faustine Rossier. Two sisters were Josephine and Anna while a brother of his was Louis. He was
baptized on 13 September 1910 and made his
First Communion in 1917. His childhood saw signs of disposition to a pious life and one based on doing the work of
God. On one particular evening his mother told him and his sister Anna of the life of
Agnes of Rome. In 1925 he commenced high school at the
Abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune and was there until 1931. In his free time he took friends to the chapel where he would read them passages from the works of
Francis de Sales and
Thérèse of Lisieux's . He wrote to a provost to request admittance to the
Canons Regular and he was admitted into the
novitiate on 25 August 1931. After a team of missionaries left for China in January 1933 he was disappointed that he did not have his chance to go with them. He was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer in January 1934 and had to follow a special diet – he would skip this diet while in the missions; this also prompted an operation and a subsequent period of rest. He had recovered enough to make his vows on 8 September 1935. In 1936 he requested once more to be assigned to the missions in China – and left alongside Cyrille Lattion (1909–1997) and Nestor Rouiller – and spent a month and a half before arriving in China. In
Weixi of
Yunnan Province, he completed his theological studies and his studies in local languages. To his brother Louis he sent a letter stating: "I will never return". He and his three companions also underwent courses with a doctor and a dentist. The path to the priesthood was now open for him and he travelled for over two weeks to
Hanoi in Vietnam where he received
ordination on 24 April 1938 from Bishop François Chaize; he wrote to his parents: "Your son is a priest!". He then received the task of teaching
seminarians in Houa-Lo-Pa. In March 1945 saw him appointed as the
parish priest of
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at Yerkalo in
southeast Tibet. He braved the dangers of the
Tibetan Buddhist monks who were not fond of missionaries or of ethnic Tibetan Christians in general. The local lamas broke into his residence on the morning of 26 January 1946 and confiscated the church while forcing him into exile. He took up brief residence in
Pame, China, (with an old drunkard) and learned of the anti-religious situation back in his parish from parishioners who came in through Pame on business. The lamas threatened him with death if he did not break off contact with his old parish while in May 1946 he received a letter from the Governor of Chamado who promised protection and inviting the priest to return to his parish. But on 6 May 1946 he set off though Gun-Akhio stopped him: "Stop! You are forbidden to go further". He asked the
Apostolic Nuncio to China Antonio Riberi for his assistance and the latter advised him to meet with the
14th Dalai Lama. He decided that he would travel to
Lhasa to seek an audience with the latter to ask him for an edict of tolerance that would protect the regional Christians. On 10 July 1949 he joined a caravan of merchants and undertook the trip that would last two months and he shaved his beard and put on a Tibetan dress to avoid detection though was recognized during a brief stop. He was forced to leave the caravan though managed to rejoin it and said to his companion Doci: "We must not be afraid ... We will die for the Christians". Four armed lamas burst from the bush in the Tothong forest which prompted the priest to speak with them: "Don't shoot! Let's talk!" but two shots rang out and Doci was shot dead, on 11 August 1949. His remains were buried though transferred in 1985. ==Beatification==