LO (LOPEZ), GREGORIO. - Dominican, the first indigenous Chinese bishop, b. at Lo-kia-hiang, province of Fukien, around 1611, d. at Nanking on 27 February 1691. Baptized in 1633, he devoted himself to the conversion of his family and cooperated as a catechist with the Catholic missionaries. On 1 January 1650 he took the Dominican habit, was ordained a priest at Manila (1654) and then sent back as a missionary to China.

(Ist. Exit)

He worked with zeal and in only two years baptized about 2000 infidels, so much so that he was proposed for the episcopate and on 4 January 1674 was created titular bishop of Basil(nopoli)tano, apostolic vicar of Nanking and apostolic administrator of 5 provinces and of Korea. But owing to various difficulties the consecration did not take place until 8 April 1685. Msgr. L. was the providential man for sustaining the missions of China in those times of persecutions. He also dealt with the delicate problem of the indigenous clergy. We have from him some handwritten letters and a short treatise in Chinese and in Latin on the cult of Confucius and of the ancestors.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: Fr. da Leonisa (Leonessa), Necrologia del servo di Dio fr. G. L., O. P., 1691, ms.; T. M. Gentili, Memorie di un missionario domenicano nella Cina, I, Roma 1887, pp. 382-79; J. M. González, Biografia del primer obispo chino, exc.mo tr. d. f. G. L. o Lopez, O. P., Manila 1946.

Abele Redigonda

@incollection{ec7_lo_lopez_gregorio, author = {Redigonda, Abele}, title = {Lo (Lopez), gregorio}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {1454--1455}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/lo-lopez-gregorio} }

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Lo (Lopez), Gregorio

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