Gabriele Allegra

Who was Gabriele Allegra?

The Blessed Gabriele Allegra, O.F.M., was a Franciscan Friar and Biblical scholar. He is best known for performing the first complete translation of the Catholic Bible into the Chinese language. His Studium Biblicum Translation is often considered the definitive Chinese Bible among Catholics. He awaits canonization.

He was born Giovanni Stefano Allegra in San Giovanni la Punta in the province of Catania, Italy. He entered the Franciscan minor seminary at S. Biagio in Acireale in 1918 and the novitiate in Bronte in 1923. He then studied at the Franciscan International College of St. Anthony in Rome as of 1926, now known as the Pontifical University Antonianum.

The future course of his life was determined in 1928 when he attend the celebrations of the 6th centenary of another Franciscan, Giovanni di Monte Corvino, who had attempted a first translation of the Bible in Beijing in the 14th century. On that day, at the age of 21, Allegra was inspired to translate the Bible into Chinese; a task that took the next 40 years of his life. He was ordained a priest in 1930 and soon thereafter sailed for mainland China.