Callistus Caravario (18 June 1903 ― 25 February 1930) was a

Salesian , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

priest serving in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, who along with

Luigi Versiglia Luigi Versiglia, S.D.B. (5 June 1873 – 25 February 1930) was an Italian Catholic prelate and professed member from the Salesians of Don Bosco who served as the first Apostolic Vicar of Shaoguan from 1920 until his murder. He was also a former ...

was martyred in

on 25 February 1930.

Early life

Caravario was born in

Cuorgnè Cuorgnè (; pms, Corgnè or ' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about north of Turin. Cuorgnè is located at the mouth of the Orco Valley, and borders the following munic ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 18 June 1903. He joined Salesians on the advice of Father Garelli and entered the Novitiate.

Mission in China

Callistus was inspired by the words of Bishop

who spoke of the missions to the Brothers on his visit to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in 1922 and wanted to join the mission in China. After a prolonged insisting to join the mission in China finally he was sent to China. He was sent to

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

and then he spent two years in

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

. He returned to

Shaoguan Shaoguan (; Hakka: Seukoan) is a prefecture-level city in northern Guangdong Province (Yuebei), South China, bordering Hunan to the northwest and Jiangxi to the northeast. It is home to the mummified remains of the sixth Zen Buddhist patriarch H ...

on 18 May 1929 and was ordained a priest by Versiglia. He was entrusted with the mission at

Lianzhou Lianzhou (), formerly Lian County or Lianxian ( postal: Linhsien; ), is a county-level city in northern Guangdong Province, China, and is the northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Qingyuan. It is known as the host cit ...

Martyrdom

On 13 February 1930, Caravario was accompanying Versiglia on his pastoral visit to his mission in Lianzhou and there were some young boys and girls with them. Their boat was stopped by a group of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

pirates on 25 February 1930, the pirates wanted to take the girls. Versiglia and Callistus tried to stop them but they were hit by the guns by the pirates and fell unconscious. Versiglia and Callistus were taken ashore and shot by the pirates. Their bodies were found on 27 February 1930.

Sainthood

Caravario was declared a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

in 1976 and was beatified by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1983. He was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

on 1 October 2000 along with

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caravario, Callistus 1903 births Italian Roman Catholic saints 1930 deaths Catholic martyrs Salesians