PALLU, FRANÇOIS

Vicar apostolic in southwest China and a founder of the Paris Foreign Mission Society; b. Tours, France, Aug. 30, 1626; d. Moyang, China, Oct. 29, 1684. His father was a lawyer and mayor. During his youth, Pallu was made a canon of St. Martin's. In Paris, he met Father De Rhodes, SJ, who was coming from Tongking to obtain from Rome the appointment of native bishops in the Far East. Pallu and his friends agreed to support De Rhodes and went to Rome, aided by the Assembly of the Clergy and the Company of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1658 Pallu was appointed titular bishop of Heliopolis, and vicar apostolic of Tongking, Laos, and southwest China. He wanted helpers and money, and this led him to start a society of priests without vows who would go to the missions. With the help of Pierre lambert de la motte, his first fellow-worker, he wrote instructions for the benefit of missioners. Throughout his life he traveled from the East to Rome to further mission work and to obtain the approval and help of the Holy See. He had to struggle against the governments of Spain and Portugal, and a number of religious who were opposed to the setting up of native churches. He is recognized as the main founder of the paris foreign mission society. Pallu was a man of great gifts, kindly, and with sound judgment and strong willpower. He gave himself zealously to spread the Church in the Far East.

Bibliography: f. pallu, Lettres, ed. a. launay, 2 v. (Angoulême 1905). a. launay, Histoire générale de la Société des Missions Étrangères, 3 v. (Paris 1894). l. baudiment, François Pallu (Paris 1934). j. guennou, Les Missions Étrangères (Paris 1963). j. glazik, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 8:11.

[h. prouvost]