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Odoric of Pordenone
14th-century Italian Franciscan friar, missionary, and explorer
BlessedResearchedRepublic of VeniceOrder of Friars Minor
Feast: 14 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1286
verified
Died
14 January 1331
verified
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
Odoric Mattiussi, born near Pordenone about 1286, became a Franciscan at Udine. In 1318 he set out as a missionary across Persia to India, where he gathered the remains of recently martyred friars to bury them in China.
His journeys took him through India, Ceylon and on to China, and his account of them became famous. He died at Udine on 14 January 1331.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe his cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary friar who carried the Gospel across Asia.
Connected on this site
- Thomas of Tolentino Blessed“His relics were removed to Quanzhou, China, and Tolentino, Italy, by Odoric of Pordenone.” — Wikipedia
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Blessed Odoric of Pordenone
- Wikidata Q379733 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Odoric of Pordenone (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.