FREINADEMETZ, JOSEPH. - Born at Badia in Val Badia (Bolzano) on 15 April 1852 to devout peasants. Ordained priest on 25 July 1875, on 4 July 1878, with the permission of his bishop, Msgr. Gasser, he entered the Society of the Divine Word, recently founded (1875) in Steyl (Holland).
On 2 March 1879 he was one of the first two missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word to set out for Southern Shantung (China), where on his arrival at Puoli he found 158 Christians. He labored there for almost 30 years, a true model of a missionary, in positions of leadership, amid sacrifices of every kind. He had greatly at heart the formation of the native clergy. For Chinese students of theology he wrote the Sanctissimum Novae Legis sacrificium (2nd ed., Yenchowfu 1926; published anew in 1948 in Steyl). On 28 Jan. 1908 he died at Taikia of typhus, in the odor of sanctity. Southern Shantung (vicariate of Yenchowfu) then counted about 46,000 Christians, 45,000 catechumens, 12 Chinese priests formed by Fr. F. and 74 seminarians, among them the future Card. Thomas Tien. The process of beatification is under way.
Bibliography6 worksA. Henninghaus, P. J. F., 2nd ed., Yenchowfu 1926; J. M. Aulitzky, Fu Schaeff, Modling 1932; H. Fischer, P. J. F., Steyl 1936; G. Baur, Der
BIBL.: A. Henninghaus, P. J. F., 2nd ed., Yenchowfu 1926; J. M. Aulitzky, Fu Schaeff, Modling 1932; H. Fischer, P. J. F., Steyl 1936; G. Baur, Der Diener Gottes p. J. F., Varone (Trentino) 1939; 2nd ed. ibid. 1942; translated into Italian: Il terzo di Dio p. G. F., ibid. 1942.
Goffredo Grössl
Grössl, Goffredo. “Freinademetz, joseph.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, col. 1763. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/freinademetz-joseph.
MLA
Grössl, Goffredo. “Freinademetz, joseph.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, col. 1763. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/freinademetz-joseph.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec5_freinademetz_joseph,
author = {Grössl, Goffredo},
title = {Freinademetz, joseph},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {V},
pages = {1763},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/freinademetz-joseph}
}
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