Luo Wenzao 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.
Portrait of Luo wearing Qing headwear and a crucifix
François Pallu (1626–1684) recommended Luo to be appointed as a bishop. Pallu wished to consecrate Luo after Luo received his second appointment, but he died on 29 October 1684, two days before Luo's arrival.
Thomas Pereira (1645–1708) was a Portuguese Jesuit at the court of the Kangxi Emperor.
The main gate of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan
The Catholic Church in China has a long and complicated history. John of Montecorvino was the first Catholic missionary to reach China proper and first bishop of Khanbaliq during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements published in 1607
Chinese seminarians in a Jesuit mission in 1900.
Monseigneur Theodor Buddenbrock conducts missionary work in China 1927
A Catholic church on East China Sea coast (Cangnan County, Zhejiang)
