Joseph Freinademetz

Saint Joseph Freinademetz, S.V.D.
Missionary to China
Born (1852-04-15)April 15, 1852
Badia, County of Tyrol,
Austrian Empire
Died January 28, 1908(1908-01-28) (aged 55)
Daijiazhuang, Jining, South Shandong,
Chinese Empire
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
(Society of the Divine Word), (China)
Beatified 19 October 1975 by Pope Paul VI
Canonized October 5, 2003 by Pope John Paul II
Feast January 29

Saint Joseph Freinademetz, S.V.D., (Chinese name: 聖福若瑟 / 圣福若瑟, pinyin: Shèng Fú Ruòsè) (April 15, 1852 - January 28, 1908) as a member of the Society of the Divine Word, was a missionary in China. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Early life

Freinademetz was born the fourth among the 13 children of Giovanmattia and Anna Maria Freinademetz[1] in Oies, a section of the town of Badia, which was then in the County of Tyrol, a part of the Austrian Empire, now a part of Italy. He studied theology in the diocesan seminary of Brixen and was ordained a priest on July 25, 1875. He was assigned to the community of San Martin de Tor, not far from his own home.

During his studies and the three years in San Martino, Freinademetz always felt a calling to be a missionary. He contacted Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a missionary congregation based in Steyl, Netherlands. With the permission of his parents and his bishop, he moved to Steyl in August 1878, where he received training as a missionary.

Missionary work

In March 1879 he and his confrere Johann Baptist von Anzer boarded a ship to Hong Kong, where they arrived five weeks later. They stayed there for two years. Freinademetz was based in Sai Kung until 1880[1][2] and set up a chapel on the island of Yim Tin Tsai in 1879.[3] In 1881 they moved to the southern region of the Province of Shantung, to which they had been assigned. At the time of their arrival, there were 12 million people living in that province, of which 158 had been baptized.

Freinademetz was very active in the education of Chinese laymen and priests. He wrote a catechism in Chinese, which he considered a crucial part of their missionary effort. In 1898, he was sick with laryngitis and tuberculosis, so Anzer, who had become the bishop of the region, and other priests convinced him to go to Japan to recuperate. He returned, but was still not fully cured. When Anzer had to leave China for a journey to Europe in 1907, the administration of the diocese was assigned to Freinademetz.

Death

There was an outbreak of typhus in this time, and he helped wherever he could, until he himself became infected. He returned to Daijiazhuang (Chinese: 戴家庄; pinyin: Dàijiāzhuāng, historically spelled "Taikia" or "Taichia"), Jining, South Shandong, where he died. He was buried in Daijiazhuang, at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross.

Legacy

Freinademetz, together with Arnold Janssen, the founder of his Society, was canonized on October 5, 2003 by Pope John Paul II, as was Daniel Comboni, the founder of the Comboni Missionaries, which works in Africa.

Under his patronage is the St. Joseph Freinademetz German National Parish in Beijing is a parish for German-speaking residents and visitors.

Works

Literature

References

  1. 1 2 Joseph Freinademetz - Serving the People of China
  2. ↑ Humble Beginnings on Yim Tin Tsai
  3. ↑ Yim Tin Tsai Village and St. Joseph's Chapel
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