Tian Gengshen

Tian Gengshen (1890-1967), a famous Catholic in China, was the first cardinal in China and the Far East.

He was born in an intellectual family in Shandong Province. In 1896, his father once acted as a teacher in an abbey and received baptism and converted to Catholicism. Under his father's influence, Tian Gengshen also became a believer of Catholicism at the age of 12 and entered the abbey for study.

In 1918, Tian Gengshen became a priest and started the missionary work in Shandong Province. In 1939, he was promoted to bishop. Six years later, the Vatican appointed him as the first cardinal in the Far East and held a ceremony for him in Rome.

After he returned to China, he acted as the archbishop of the Beijing Parish, participated in the social and cultural activities actively, established schools and published newspapers and magazines.

In 1949, he went to the United States . Ten years later, he was appointed archbishop of the Taipei Parish by the Pope. In 1967, he died.