St. Joseph Freinademetz

Joseph Freinademetz was born to poor parents on a small farm in the Dolomite Mountains on April 15, 1852. Joseph’s childhood was quiet. He worked on the farm, attended daily Mass and walked several hours to attend school. He entered the major seminary and was ordained in 1875. He served as a teacher, but when he learned of the Mission House founded by Father Arnold Janssen in Holland he went to visit the new Society. He joined the Society of the Divine Word in 1878 and a year later he was off to China. He would never see his homeland again. Father Joseph was assigned to Shandong province. He loved the Chinese and became an effective missionary by learning as much as possible about Chinese culture. He even dressed similarly to a Chinese holy man. He said “I would like to be Chinese in heaven”. He insisted that the Church should accept the Chinese as leaders of their local churches. It would be