ODORICO da PORDENONE, blessed. — Born in Villanova di Pordenone between 1269 and 1272, to the Mattiussi family, an Italian family. While still very young he embraced the Franciscan life in the convent of S. Francesco in Udine. Ordained a priest, he requested and obtained permission to go on mission to the Far East.
It is not easy to establish when he began the memorable pilgrimage that lasted thirty-three years, across the populated centers of Asia. He embarked at Venice and reached Trebizond, a most important port of call. From there he began his journey overland. He entered Armenia and Persia; at Hormuz he boarded an Arab ship and in twenty-eight days reached Tana at the mouths of the Indus, where four Franciscans, including Giacomo da Padova, had shortly before been martyred. He gathered the martyrs’ relics and continued his journey, rounding the southernmost tip of India; he touched Ceylon, sailed the Indian Ocean, and reached the Nicobar Islands, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, the first European to set foot on those lands. He then landed at Kuang-ceu in southern China and arrived at Zaiton, where he found the first two Franciscan convents and deposited there the remains of the martyrs of Tana. He then reached Camsay, Marco Polo’s Quinsay, proceeded to Nanjing, and continued his journey along the imperial canal and farther on the Blue River. In 1326 he founded the church of Sin-Ching (Shantung). After crossing the Yellow River, he finally reached Beijing, the destination of his journey, capital of the Mongol Empire and residence of Giovanni da Montecorvino, metropolitan of the East, where he remained for three years. Through his zeal and an exemplary life he succeeded in converting more than twenty thousand infidels and in overcoming dangers and hardships of every kind, repeatedly risking his life. At the wish of Fra Giovanni da Montecorvino, he undertook to return to Europe in order to report everything to the Pope. He left Cathay, crossing the continent and reaching Tibet (Tibet). After traversing eastern Turkestan, following the well-known caravan route of the Tarim Basin and crossing the high valleys of the Pamirs, he descended into Afghanistan; from there he passed into northern Persia and, through the Armenian valleys, reached Trebizond. In 1330 he arrived in Venice, having traveled approximately fifty thousand kilometers. He set out for Avignon to report his journey to Pope Giovanni XXII, but, having reached Pisa, he fell gravely ill; he then withdrew to Padua, to the convent of the Santo, where in May 1330 he dictated to Fra Guglielmo da Solagna an account of his travels. Finally, from Padua he went to Udine, where he died a holy death on 14 January 1331. Benedict XIV recognized the cult of the blessed that had continuously been rendered to him. His body is now venerated in the Carmine church in Udine, housed in a richly ornamented mausoleum.
The account left by O. of his travels constitutes, together with those of other celebrated travelers, the principal source of the oldest and most reliable information on the countries of the Far East during the Middle Ages. In it O. briefly reports whatever might interest religious and laypeople, but the latter more than the former, since marvelous reports predominate over pious ones. He dwells on the products, commerce, and riches of Asia, never mentioning himself and still less concerned to bring fame to his name. If the Latin he uses is a very poor thing, this is compensated for by the simplicity and absolute absence of every bombastic and hyperbolic form, which is a sign and guarantee of sincerity.
O. is rightly recognized as a pioneer of missionary life and one of the most celebrated Italian travelers.