Navarrette, Domingo Fernandez

Navarrette, Domingo Fernandez a noted Spanish missionary, born at Penafiel, Old Castile, in 1610; joined the Dominican Order, and in 1647 was sent to the Philippine Islands, and became professor of theology at Manilla. Later he went to China, and penetrated beyond the precincts where Europeans were thlen tolerated. He was made superior of his order, and rendered efficient service for the cause of Christian missions; but during a time of persecution he was driven from the country, and reached home, barely saving his life, in 1673. He went to Rome, and strongly protested before the authorities against the Jesuitical accommodation theory as tending to delay the Christianizing of China. That his honesty and piety were appreciated is apparent in his appointment to the see of Santo Domingo in 1678. He died in Santo Domingo in December 1689. He wrote Tratados historicos, politicos, ethicos, y religiosos de la monarquia de China (Madrid, 1676, fol.); the second volume was suppressed by the Inquisition, and the third never printed. The volume published contains an excellent account of the political and religious condition of the Chinese in his times. See Churchill, Collection of Voyages and Travels.