Chinese missionary and scholar, born at Brescia, in Italy, in 1582; died at Fou-Tcheou, China, in August, 1644. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in 1600, and was distinguished for his knowledge of mathematics and theology. He was sent as a missionary to China in 1610 and while waiting at Macao for a favorable opportunity to enter the country he published his "résultat de l'observation sue l'éclipse de lune du 8 Novembre, 1612, faite a Macao" (Mémoires de l'Acad. des Sciences, VII, 706.) After his arrival in China, he preached the Gospel in the provinces of Xan-si and Fi-Kien. He published many works in Chinese on a variety of topics. Among the most important are a controversial treatise on the Catholic Faith, in which are refuted the principal errors of the Chinese; "The True Origin of All Things"; and "The Life of God, the Saviour, from the Four Gospels". There is a complete list of Alenio's works in Sommervogel.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online