Luo Wenzao | |||||||||||
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Bishop of Nanjing | |||||||||||
![]() Portrait of Luo wearing Qing headwear and a crucifix | |||||||||||
Native name | 羅文藻 | ||||||||||
Church | Catholic Church | ||||||||||
Diocese | Nanjing | ||||||||||
In office |
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Successor | Giovanni Francesco Nicolai | ||||||||||
Other post(s) | Titular Bishop of Basilinopolis | ||||||||||
Orders | |||||||||||
Ordination | 1654 | ||||||||||
Consecration | 1685 by Bernardino della Chiesa | ||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||
Born | c. 1610s Fu'an, Fujian, China | ||||||||||
Died | Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | 27 February 1691||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 羅文藻 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 罗文藻 | ||||||||||
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Courtesy name | |||||||||||
Chinese | 汝鼎 | ||||||||||
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Art name | |||||||||||
Chinese | 存鼎 | ||||||||||
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Luo Wenzao[a] OP (c. 1610s – 27 February 1691) was the first person of Chinese ethnicity to be appointed as a Catholic bishop. After the Qing dynasty proscribed Christianity and banished foreign missionaries in 1665, Luo became the only person in charge of the Catholic missions in China. In 1674, the Holy See first appointed Luo as a bishop. He declined it but accepted his second appointment in 1679. Due to opposition from Dominicans, he was consecrated as the apostolic vicar of Nanjing in 1685 and held the position until his death in 1691.
Although a Dominican himself, Luo held tolerant views that were closer to those of Jesuits in the Chinese Rites controversy. Luo was an active participant in the controversy: he consecrated Chinese priests and argued for the acceptance of Chinese rituals for the sake of preserving the early Catholic Church in China. Luo had studied at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, and in addition to his Chinese heritage, Luo was proficient in Spanish and Latin.
Along with other Dominicans, Luo edited Xingshen Shiyi (Chinese: 形神實義; lit. 'The True Meanings of the Body and the Spirit'), a 1673 Chinese Catholic theology book by Raimundo del Valle. Luo also wrote a Latin epitaph in 1690; he is the namesake of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan. His date of birth is not known and there remains controversy over his real name.
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