NAVARRETE, FERNANDO DOMINGO. - Spanish Dominican missionary, writer, and archbishop, born in Peñafiel (Valladolid) ca. 1618, died in Santo Domingo (in the Antilles) in 1689.
He made his religious profession in the convent of his hometown on 8 December 1635. After several years of teaching in Valladolid, in 1646 he departed for the overseas Dominican missions. He spent some time in Mexico, then went on to the Philippines to teach in Manila (1648). In 1659, while returning to Spain for health reasons, he disembarked in China and remained in the Dominican missions there, becoming their superior in 1664. During the persecution (1665–69), among the interned Catholic missionaries, especially in Canton, the controversy over the Chinese Rites arose, of which Navarrete was a staunch opponent. At the beginning of 1673 he was in Rome to report on the missions in China and the Rites controversy. It was then proposed to place him in charge of all Catholic missions in the Chinese Empire, which he managed to avoid; later, however, he could not refuse the archbishopric of Santo Domingo (1677). During his twelve years as bishop, he distinguished himself by his zeal and supported the mission of the Jesuits on the island, showing that his persistent opposition to the Chinese Rites stemmed solely from a conscientious defense of the truth and in no way diminished his charity and esteem for the members of the Society of Jesus.
He left a major historical work on China, of which the first two parts were published: *Tratados históricos, políticos, éticos y religiosos de la Monarchia de China*... (Madrid 1676) and *Controversias antiguas y modernas de la misión de la gran China* (ibid. 1679). He also wrote several works in Chinese on Catholic truths, ethics, and other subjects.