Tian Gengshen (1890-1967), a famous Catholic inChina, was the first cardinal inChinaand theFar East.
He was born in an intellectual family inShandongProvince. 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 inShandongProvince. In 1939, he was promoted to bishop. Six years later, theVaticanappointed him as the first cardinal in theFar Eastand held a ceremony for him inRome.
After he returned toChina, 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 theUnited States. Ten years later, he was appointed archbishop of the Taipei Parish by the Pope. In 1967, he died.
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