William of Rubruck William of Rubruck ( nl, Willem van Rubroeck, la, Gulielmus de Rubruquis; ) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the ...

(1253) *

Giovanni di Monte Corvino John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He convert ...

O.F.M. (1294) * Arnold of Cologne (1303) * Andrew of Perugia (1307) *

Odoric of Pordenone Odoric of Pordenone, OFM (1286–1331), also known as Odorico Mattiussi/Mattiuzzi, Odoricus of Friuli or Orderic of Pordenone, was an Italian late-medieval Franciscan friar and missionary explorer. He traveled through India, the Greater Sunda Is ...

O.F.M. (1322) *

St. Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

S.J. (1552) *

Michele Ruggieri Michele or Michael Ruggieri (1543– 11 May 1607), born Pompilio Ruggieri and known in China as Luo Mingjian, was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary. A founding father of the Jesuit China missions, co-author of the first European–Chinese d ...

S.J. (1579) *

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. ...

S.J. (1582) *

Alessandro Valignano Alessandro Valignano, S.J., sometimes Valignani (Chinese: 范禮安 ''Fàn Lǐ’ān''; February 1539 – January 20, 1606), was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary born in Chieti, part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the ...

S.J. (1570s–1580s) *

Andrius Rudamina Andrius Rudamina, S.J. ( la, Andreas Rudamina; pl, Andrzej Rudomina; 1596 – 5 September 1631) was the first Lithuanian Jesuit missionary in China. Early life Andrius Rudamina was born into an old and distinguished Lithuanian noble family in ...

S.J. (1620-1630s) - Lithuanian Jesuit missionary *

Johann Adam Schall von Bell Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1 May 1591 – 15 August 1666) was a German Jesuit, astronomer and instrument-maker. He spent most of his life as a missionary in China (where he is remembered as "Tang Ruowang") and became an adviser to the Shun ...

S.J. (1592–1666) - German Jesuit missionary and astronomer *

Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer (1588, in Kadaň – 1626, in Macau) was an astronomer and a Jesuit missionary. His name in China was Qi Weicai (祁維材). Life Kirwitzer was born in Kadaň (Germ. ''Kaaden''), Bohemia (present-day Czech Republi ...

S.J. (1618–1620) *

Alexandre de Rhodes Alexandre de Rhodes (15 March 1593 – 5 November 1660) was an Avignonese Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who had a lasting impact on Christianity in Vietnam. He wrote the ''Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum'', the first trilingua ...

S.J. (1630) *

Francis Ferdinand de Capillas Francis Fernández (or Ferdinand) de Capillas (15 August 1607 – 15 January 1648) was a Spanish Dominican friar who went as a missionary to Asia. He died in China as a martyr. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000, as one of th ...

O.P. (1642–48) * Martino Martini S.J. (1640–1661) *

Thomas Pereira Thomas Pereira or Tomás Pereira (1 November 1645 – 1708), also known as Tomé Pereira, was a Portuguese Jesuit, mathematician and scientist who worked as a missionary in Qing China. Pereira was born in Vila Nova de Famalicão. He arrived i ...

S.J. (1645–1708) *

Ferdinand Verbiest Father Ferdinand Verbiest (9 October 1623 – 28 January 1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in the County of Flanders (now part of Belgium). He is known as Nan Huairen () in Chi ...

S.J. (1659) * Caspar Castner S.J. (1696–1709) * Giuseppe Castiglione S.J. (1715) *

Matteo Ripa Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escenda ...

(16??–17??) *

Jean Joseph Marie Amiot Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (sometimes Amyot; ; February 1718October 9, 1793) was a French Jesuit missionary in Qing China, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. Life Joseph Marie Amiot was born at Toulon. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1 ...

S.J. (1750) *

Michel Benoist Michel Benoist (, 8 October 1715 in Dijon, France – 23 October 1774 in Beijing, China) was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor (1735 - 1796) during the Qing Dynasty, known for his architectur ...

S.J. (1774–1775) *

Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier-Duperron C.M.(Chinese: 樊國樑 Pinyin:''Fan Guoliang'' Wade-Giles: ''Fan Kouo-Léang'') (born 22 September 1837 at Marsannay-la-Côte, France; died 4 April 1905 in Beijing) was the Roman Catholic, Catholic (Chines ...

C.M. (served 1862–1905) *

Johann Baptist von Anzer Johann Baptist Anzer (later von Anzer, ), S.V.D., (16 May 1851 – 24 November 1903) was a member of the Society of the Divine Word, popularly known as the Divine Word Missionaries, and Catholic bishop of the German Mission to China in Shandon ...

S.V.D. (1851–1903) *

Armand David Father Armand David (7 September 1826, Espelette – 10 November 1900, Paris) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist. Several species, such as Père David's deer, are named after him — b ...

C.M. (1862–1863) *

Augustin Henninghaus Augustin Henninghaus SVD (11 September 1862, Menden (Sauerland), Province of Westphalia – 20 July 1939) was a German Roman Catholic missionary and bishop in China. Life Henninghaus, whose baptismal name was August, was born in Menden i ...

S.V.D (1862–1939) * Theophiel Verbist C.I.C.M. (1865) * Ephrem Giesen, Franciscan (1868-1919) * Amandina of Schakkebroek (1889) *

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cath ...

Gabriele Allegra O.F.M. (1931) * Prosper Bernard S.J. (1938)

See also