CARLO ORAZIO da CASTORANO. — Celebrated missionary and Sinologist, b. at Castorano (Ascoli Piceno) on 20 May 1673, son of Francesco di Orazio and Diamante Guglielmi, d. on 1 February 1755. He took the habit of the Observant Franciscans in 1690. On 30 April 1698 he departed for China, arriving there in 1701. Msgr. Bernardo Della Chiesa (q.v.) kept him at his side in the apostolic vicariate of Shantung and in 1707 appointed him his vicar general. He suffered greatly, especially after the death of his beloved bishop (1721), at the hands of his rivals and during the subsequent persecution of Christians (1724). To ensure that the Holy See was fully informed, he resolved to travel to Rome (1734). Already advanced in years, he was persuaded by the Pope himself to remain in Italy with his relatives, with an adequate pension assigned to him.
Many and interesting are the books he wrote, most of which remained unpublished, among which the Latin-Italian-Sinhalese Dictionary stands out, including both vocabulary and Chinese characters.