Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Pere M. Sans Jordà, OP
On Sunday, 28 September 2025, events were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Pere M. Sans Jordà, a native of Ascó and a Dominican ordained in the Diocese of Urgell, who served as Vicar Apostolic of Fujian in eighteenth-century China, where he died a martyr. The day was coordinated by the Fiter i Rossell Chair of eUniv and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Barcelona, with the support of the Chinese Catholic Community of Catalonia.
The event took place in the Aula Magna of the Conciliar Seminary of Barcelona, under the chairmanship of Mn. Josep Chisvert, Vice-Chancellor of eUniv and Delegate for Education of the Diocese of Urgell, who conveyed the support for the event from the Episcopal Co-Prince of Andorra, Mn. Josep L. Serrano Pentinat.
The historical figure of the martyred bishop was first presented by Dr. Josep Serrano Daura, director of the Fiter i Rossell Chair, and his spiritual dimension was later addressed by speakers from China, as well as by representatives of the Order of Preachers and the Community of Sant’Egidio.
The day concluded with a solemn Eucharist in the Seminary’s church, presided over by Mn. Javier Vilanova, Auxiliary Bishop of Barcelona, and concelebrated by seven priests. The ceremony, which was followed in Chinese, Catalan and Spanish, was attended by about 300 people, including descendants of the Saint’s family, who travelled from Ascó to present a relic of his to the Chinese community of Barcelona.
eUniv plans to publish this year a study by Dr. Serrano Daura on the historical episode of the persecutions of Christians in mid-eighteenth-century China.
