John of Montecorvino

John of Montecorvino (Italian: Giovanni da Montecorvino; 1247–1328) was a Franciscan missionary of the Catholic Church and the first bishop in the history of the Catholic Church in China. He is best known for having traveled to Yuan-dynasty China on behalf of the Holy See and having been received with courtesy by the Yuan emperor, which enabled him to preach in the capital, Khanbaliq (Dadu, today's Beijing); in the end he even established the earliest Catholic ecclesiastical province in China, the Archdiocese of Khanbaliq.

Brief Biography

He was born in 1247 at Montecorvino Rovella, near Salerno in southern Italy. In 1289 he was sent east by the Holy See. In 1291 he set out from Tabriz in Persia, passed through India (where he stayed about thirteen months), came to China by sea, and arrived at the Yuan capital, Dadu (now Beijing), in 1294, where he was welcomed by Temür, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan. He then remained in China as a missionary. In 1299 and 1305 he completed 2 churches in Dadu. On July 23, 1307, he was appointed Archbishop of Khanbaliq; in 1308 three Franciscan bishops sent by the pope consecrated him, and these friars also served as his assistants. He died in Dadu in 1328.

Montecorvino was well liked and held in high esteem among Christians and non-Christians alike. In the 14th century John of Cora, Archbishop of Sultaniyeh (in Iran), wrote: “He (Montecorvino) was a very upright man, loved by God and by the people.” Of Montecorvino's funeral, Cora wrote: “A very great number of people attended the funeral, both Christians and pagans. The pagans, according to their custom, wore mourning clothes. Christians and pagans alike devoutly took hold of the archbishop's garments and reverently carried them away as relics… They also went to visit the house where he had lived.” The people's remembrance of Montecorvino must therefore have lasted for decades.