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The first Divine Word Missionary, Apostle of China
He was born on April 15, 1852 in Oies in South Tyrol, the fourth child of Jan and Anna née Algrong. He was baptized the same day in the parish church of St. Leonard. The Freinademetzs had 13 children, four of whom died shortly after birth. The family lived very modestly and had to work hard to support themselves. Meat rarely appeared on the table.
In the years 1858-1862 Joseph attended primary school in Badia. He was an exemplary student. He was very capable and diligent. For this reason he probably caught the attention of the teacher and the parish priest, thanks to whom in 1862 he moved to a German school in Bressanone, 50 km away from Oies.
Józef attended this school for 2 years. He repeated the 3rd and 4th grades, although he had already finished them at the Ladin school in Badia. He had to learn German from scratch, because in his area the main language spoken was Ladin. Then he attended high school in Bressanone. In 1872 he passed his secondary school leaving examination and in the same year entered the Seminary in Bressanone. He was ordained a priest on July 5, 1875. On August 5, he celebrated his first mass in his family parish church.
As a newly ordained priest, he worked in the church of St. Martin, about 12 km from his native Badia. He was very modest, friendly and nice. On Saturdays and Sundays, he came to church as early as 4:00 a.m. to hear confessions. His confessional was always crowded.
At the beginning of 1878, information appeared in one of the church magazines about the establishment of the first Mission House in Steyl on the Meuse, which had been founded three years earlier by Arnold Jannsen. At the end of February, Joseph wrote to Father Janssen that he dared to “knock on his door with full respect and ask for acceptance”. And so, in August 1878, he left for Steyl. At the turn of 1878/79, Fr. Freinademetz and Fr. Jan Anzer took short introductory Chinese lessons from a Dutch missionary who had just returned from China. On March 2, 1879, the ceremony of presenting the missionary crosses took place in Steyl, and on the same day the two missionaries left the Mission House.
On April 20, 1879, after a five-week journey, they reached the port of Hong Kong. Father Joseph began learning Chinese in the village of Saikung, where he assisted the Italian missionary, Father Piazzola, in his work. From May 1880, in order to establish contacts, he began to wander around the area and visit villages where there were no Christians.
In May 1881, Fr. Freinademetz (who was called Fu Shenfu – fu means happiness, shenfu – priest) was ordered to go to southern Shantung, where the Italian Franciscans had given part of their territory to the Divine Word Missionaries. There were 9 million people living there, including 158 Christians. It was to them that Fr. Joseph was to reach first. In March 1882 he moved to Puoli, a town inhabited mostly by Christians. There he taught in primitive mud huts, which served him both as a place of prayer and rest. If he managed to arouse interest somewhere, a catechist would replace him, because people understood his words better and it was easier for them to focus on the content.
In order for catechists to have appropriate material for teaching, Father Józef prepared explanations of the catechism in Chinese, and over time also other writings, for example rules for leaders of Christian communities, or guiding thoughts for sermons.
In December 1885, Southern Shantung was recognized by the Vatican as an independent missionary territory. Father Jan Anzer became its head, as apostolic vicar with episcopal powers. He appointed Father Freinademetz as his deputy and pro-vicar. At that time, the mission numbered 634 Christians, 40 catechists and 2,150 catechumens. Among them were 12 priests, 1 deacon, 4 religious brothers. On the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1885, Fr. Joseph made his perpetual religious vows in the Society of the Divine Word. In September 1894, Bishop Anzer transferred Fr. Freinademetz to the new mission station in Wangchuang, where he worked in 1883-84. A year later, he took over the management of the newly founded seminary.
In 1899, secret societies called the “Big Swords” and the “Fist Fighters”, commonly known as “Boxers”, were founded in China. They were particularly hostile towards foreigners and anything modern and imported from the West. The Chinese governor of Shantung defended the province against the Boxers’ attack as best he could, but issued an order for all foreigners to take refuge in port cities. Father Freinademetz agreed to move to Tsingtao only after much persuasion. In mid-1900, Fr. Joseph was appointed provincial of southern Shantung by Fr. Arnold Janssen. This new office kept him tied to his desk.
Father Joseph Freinademetz died on Tuesday, January 28, 1908 in Taikia, where he was buried on February 1. He was buried in the mission cemetery, at the 12th Station of the Cross.
On October 19, 1975, together with the Founder of the Divine Word Missionaries, Father Arnold Janssen, he was counted among the blessed. The solemn canonization was performed by the Holy Father John Paul II on October 5, 2003 in Rome.
Heavenly Father, You always grant us Your graces and blessings through the intercession of the saints. We thank You for choosing Saint Joseph Freinademetz, a zealous missionary in China, to be a model for us to imitate.
He was a man of prayer who persevered before You without tiring. Prayer was the air he breathed and the joy of life for him. It nourished his missionary vocation and his love for his neighbor.
It enlivened his enthusiasm, fueled his readiness for sacrifice and deep religiosity.
Through the intercession of Saint Joseph, we beg You, O God, to grant us the grace to become men of prayer and to be able to respect the culture of the people to whom we are sent. Enlighten us to find the path that You have marked out for us and to read Your plan that You have foreseen for us.
Give us the courage, like Saint Joseph, to persevere in our missionary work despite many adversities and to live our vocation faithfully. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
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