Born in Oies, South Tirol
15 April 1852
Family:
Father – John Mathias
Freinademetz - farmer
Mother – Ana Maria
Sottvalgiarai-house wife
Family of 13 children –
Joseph - “Ujöp” 4th child
“They lived poor and had to
work hard. For the fields
and transport they had a
horse. They had a dozen of
cows and pigs more for
sale.”
Prayers in the family
• Daily rosary before the
family altar.
• Devotion to the Sacred
Heart
• Regular pilgrimage to the
chapel of the Holy Cross Kreuzkofel
The subtle voice of God urging him
to be a missionary came to him
through the diocesan newspaper
and Joseph prayed ardently for
clarity about this call.
Mission Call
January 1878 edition of the monthly diocesan
bulletin “Kirchenblatt” brings the news about
Mission House of Steyl and its missionary
objective:
“Priests will also be accepted whether they wish
to become missionaries themselves or are simply
dedicate themselves to the training of future
missionaries.”
During the next few weeks he prayed fervently
more than ever. He felt more and more deep
within – Paratum, cor meum! My heart is ready!
“Little children go begging for
bread; no one spares a scrap
for them” (Lam. 4:4).
These words which he heard in
the Liturgy of Good Friday
gave him no rest.
He felt as though he was hearing the cry of the
pagan children.
Letter to Arnold Janssen
“I have often sought
counsel in prayer to
the Most Sacred Heart
of Jesus. My desire to
be a missionary
becomes stronger in
such moments: I take
this as a sign of God’s
call for me to this
sublime vocation.”
(28 February 1878)
“As Bishop of Brixen, I
say NO; but as a
Catholic Bishop, I say
YES. Take my son and
make him a good
missionary. But by
giving him to you, I’m
entrusting to you the
pearl of my diocese”
FROM HIS BISHOP, MGSR. GASSER
July 4, 1878 – letter of release from the
Diocese. “In perpetuum dimissus”
“Released permanently”
On 20 April 1879 Joseph
set foot on the soil of China.
Joseph received his new name –
“Fu Shen-fu”,
which means “Lucky priest”.
Challenges of Mission
a) Height of European colonialism.
b) Missionaries were associated with the colonial
powers who gave them protection.
c) Hatred against the foreign colonial powers and
missionaries as “foreign European devils or dogs”.
d) Being Christian was considered a betrayal of their
Chinese beliefs and traditions.
e) Converts were hated because they enjoyed certain
privileges and protection.
f) Controversy rites – Prohibition by 1704 Clement;
1742 Benedict till 1939 lifted by Pius XII.
Joseph wished to become
as soon as possible “all things to all”.
He made serious efforts to learn Chinese.
“Of
myself nothing
interesting can be
said, except perhaps
that for the past three
weeks,
I am wearing Chinese
garb, with white
socks, short white
pants, Chinese toga
and a shaved head.”
(Hong Kong 1880)
Cultural Schock
 Temples as “houses of the
devil” where sacrifices are
offered!
 Religious feasts – festivals of
the devil honored by firecrackers and cannon.
 Smoke of roasted pigs to the
gods; the meat for the
Chinese to eat.
 Cult of the dead offering food
 “The Chinese eat rice and always
more rice, even on their deathbed”
 Chinese are incapable of higher
motives - materialistic.
 “China is truly an empire of the
devil.
He came with the idea of
preaching, converting,
baptizing crowds the whole
day, building churches…but
only indifference.
Joseph found that to adapt outwardly was not so
difficult. “The main thing still remains to be done: the
transformation of the inner man, the study of the
Chinese world view, customs and practices, the study
of the Chinese character and psychology. That is not
the work of a day nor even of a year; neither does it
take place without many a painful operation… The
religious indifference of the people is and remains most
incomprehensible and painful. …The young
missionary feels this most bitterly.”
（Letter to his brother, 15 Dec.1880）
He got to know the region of South Shandong especially
the people. He studied the Chinese, their way of thought,
their customs and usages, their character and disposition.
And this was the beginning of his inner transformation.
“The greatest task of a missionary: the
inner transformation of oneself”

“Up to now what I saw, heard and lived is a violent
contrast with the way I used to see and think.”

“The dialect is difficult but the conversion of the
Chinese is more difficult”.

“When you do not know what to do in China, do the
contrary of what would you do in Europe”.

“As if awakening up from a deep sleep, I suddenly
found myself in a totally new world and what a
world!”

“There is a barrier, a wall of separation between
us and the Chinese, our ignorance or our
imperfect and faulty knowledge of the language.

“The missionary is hated by everyone, supported
by few and loved by nobody.”

“The missionary is often alone, frequently lonely.
He does not know where he would cry because of
an inner hurt or shout for great joy, and so he does
MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF LOVE
People are converted only through the grace of God
and - may we add - by our love.
Only when our relationships are based on genuine
Christian love will we be effective presence and witnesses
where God has placed us.
Just as the buds open in the warmth of the sun and close
again when the darkness of night descends, in the same way
human hearts open or close up when someone gives them a
smile or a frown.
“Now that I have no
difficulty with the
language and know
the people and their
way of life better,
China has become not
only my homeland but
also for which I will
give my life”
Becoming a Chinese to the Chinese –
“Transformation of the inner self.”
TWO BLOODY & VIOLENT EVENTS
November 1, 1897: Murder of two SVD
missionaries – Fr. Nies and Fr. Henle
Attacks and assaults against missionaries.
Boxers’ Uprising in 1900: evacuation of
foreign missionaries to Shanghai and Qingdao.
Joseph decided to stay.
“Once the Boxers came to cut my throat and I
had to flee in the dead of the night. All
missionaries thought I was doomed, the
situation was so hazardous.”
Joseph was a man of prayer
and a deeply spiritual person.
“Payer was his life element
and life’s joy, it was the
source from which he lived”
Bishop Henninghaus, SVD
The success of the mission was the
triumph of grace, but possible only
with the good effort and hard work
of the missionaries
Missionary Response
Carpentry
Orphanage
Family
Community
Formation of Catechists and Leaders
Evangelizers and Apostles of Christ
MISSIONARY APPROACH
Contact
visits
Formation of
cell groups
Initiation to
Faith/Life
Formation of Christian
Communities
Prayer life
liturgical life
Formation of
Catechists and
leaders
Mission
follow up
Mission School
“For the children not simply
to be taught but also to be
educated.” Also as “feeders
for seminary and for good
catechists.”
“I love my Chinese.
I take China, its
people and its
language as my
native country. I
would die for them
a thousand times
over. I want to be
buried with them…I
want to be still
Chinese in heaven.”
28 January 1908 – Died of Typhus
“May heaven reunite us for all eternity.”
“The only language
understood by
people everywhere
is the language of
love.”
TESTIMONY – CARDINAL TIEN, SVD
“All
Christians considered Joseph Freinademetz a
living saint…He was always friendly, modest,
humble. He spoke Chinese well. Whoever came in
contact with him was deeply impressed and
somehow drew comfort from his very presence.
A catechist, who hardly had a good word to say
about the foreign missionaries, said about Joseph:
‘Fu-Shenfu is a saint. He is different from others’.
“For us Chinese the manner of other
missionaries was somewhat too aggressive
and often too inconsiderate. This was not the
case of Joseph. He was always available to
others and sacrificed himself selflessly for
others to the utmost of self-forgetfulness.
It was a powerful experience to see him in
prayer before the tabernacle. His piety was
natural and attractive”
“His most outstanding characteristic
was his immensely amiable goodness.
He was endowed with those traits so
necessary to the missionary, that is, a
permanent gentleness and kindness,
which win hearts and a tireless
patience, which is the incomparable
charity of one who forgets oneself. He
was always in a cheerful mood.”
Bishop Henninghaus, SVD
Champion of evangelization”
“
John Paul II
 A praying missionary in every moment.
 On fire for the mission of God
 With a heart of the Good Shepherd who lays down
his life.
 Who learned to love the people and who became
one with them
 Caught up in the redeeming love of God – the cross.
 Aware that everything is God’s grace.
 “I do not regard being a missionary as a sacrifice
 offered to God but as a grace that God gave me.”
“With the tenacity typical of
mountain people, this
generous ‘witness of love’
dedicated himself wholly to
the Chinese people of
Shandong. Through love and
with love, he embraced their
conditions of life, in line with
the advice that he himself gave
to his missionaries:
‘Missionary work is in vain if
we do not love and are not
loved.’ He was an exemplary
model of evangelical
inculturation.”
John Paul II