Freinademetz was born the fourth among the 13 children of Giovanmattia and Anna Maria Freinademetz in Oies, a section of the town of Badia, which was then in the County of Tyrol, a part of the Austrian Empire, now a part of Italy. He studied theology in the diocesan seminary of Brixen and was ordained a priest on July 25, 1875. He was assigned to the community of San Martin de Tor, not far from his own home. During his studies and the three years in San Martino, Freinademetz always felt a calling to be a missionary. He contacted Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a missionary congregation based in Steyl, Netherlands. With the permission of his parents and his bishop, he moved to Steyl in August 1878, where he received training as a missionary.
Missionary work
In March 1879, he and his confrere Johann Baptist von Anzer boarded a ship to Hong Kong, where they arrived five weeks later. They stayed there for two years. Freinademetz was based in Sai Kung Peninsula until 1880 and set up a chapel on the island of Yim Tin Tsai in 1879. In 1881 they moved to the southern region of the Province of Shantung, to which they had been assigned. At the time of their arrival, there were 12 million people living in that province, of which 158 had been baptized. Freinademetz was very active in the education of Chinese laymen and priests. He wrote a catechism in Chinese, which he considered a crucial part of their missionary effort. In 1898, he was sick with laryngitis and tuberculosis, so Anzer, who had become the bishop of the region, and other priests convinced him to go to Japan to recuperate. He returned, but was still not fully cured. When Anzer had to leave China for a journey to Europe in 1907, the administration of the diocese was assigned to Freinademetz.
Joseph Freinademetz, Sanctissimum Novae Legis Sacrificium, 1.ed., Verlag der katholischen Mission: Yenchowfu 1915, VII + 161 pp. 2.ed. Typographia Apostolica Domus Missionum ad S. Michaelem, Steyl 1948, VIII + 141 pp.
Josef Freinademetz SVD, Berichte aus der China-Mission, Apud Collegium Verbi Divini, Romae 1974, 171 pp.
José Freinademetz, Relatos de la mision en China, Editorial Verbo Divino, Estella 1976, 219 pp.,.
Joseph Freinademetz, Über den Geist der Societas Verbi Divini Divini, Romae 1977, 91 pp.
Joseph Freinademetz, The Most Holy Sacrifice of the New Covenant, translated by Stan Plutz SVD, Tagaytay 1980, 2. ed. 1986, 146 pp.
Richard Hartwoch, Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz. Correspondence between two saints ,, Apud Collegium Verbi Divini: Romae 2008, 287 pp.
Josef Freinademetz, Briefe an die Heimat, ed. by P. Lothar Janek SVD, Sekretariat Josef Freinademetz: Abtei/South Tyrol 2009, 199 pp.
Literature
Philip Clart: Die Religionen Chinas. Stuttgart 2009.
Karl Josef Rivinus: Anfänge der Missionstätigkeit der Steyler Missionare in China unter der Berücksichtigung des politischen und sozialen Umfeldes des P. Josef Freinademetz
Johannes Baur: P. Joseph Freinademetz SVD. Steyler Verlag 1956. ISBN B0000BG7A0
Clifford J. King, S.V.D., A Man of God - Joseph Freinademetz. Pioneer Divine Word Missionary, Divine Word Publications: Techny, Illinois 1959, 144 pp.
John Fleckner SVD, Father Freinademetz’ Requirements in a missionary, in: Verbum S.V.D 4:4 p. 403-414.
Jacob Reuter, SVD, Blessed Joseph Freinademetz S.V.D. South Tyrol’s Outstanding Missionary to the Far East, English translation by John Vogelgesang, Divine Word College : Rome 1975, p. 30.
