page_title: Gabriele Allegra
section_title: Veneration
hierarchical_section_title: Gabriele Allegra / Veneration
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a photo of Gabriele Allegra in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Hong Kong
context_page_description: Gabriele Allegra was a Franciscan Friar and Biblical scholar. He is best known for accomplishing 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.
context_section_description: From his early days, Allegra was viewed as a favorite son of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII said of him: "Tell this young priest that he has my special blessing and that I will pray for him every day. He will meet with many difficulties, but let him not lose courage. Nothing is impossible for him who prays, wills and studies. I shall not live to see this work completed, but I shall pray for him in heaven.
  The cause for Allegra's canonization was started in 1984 by Bishop John Wu in Hong Kong, 8 years after his death. He was declared Venerable by the Holy See in 1994, and the promulgation of a decree of one miracle attributed to Allegra, required to conclude the beatification process, was approved in 2002. His decree of beatification was promulgated by the Holy See on that same day, but the beatification ceremony, which was set for October 26 of that year, was postponed. However, on the feast of the Assumption in 2012, the Roman Curia announced through the Sicilian Franciscan Holy Name Province, that Allegra would be beatified on September 29, 2012, at the Cathedral of Arcireale, Catania in Sicilia. He is, thus far, the only biblical scholar of the 20th century who has been beatified.
  In 2009 a web cast in English and Chinese was named after Allegra.
caption: Devotion to Allegra in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Hong Kong
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 60D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2015:02:10 03:17:00", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "348", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9156", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "14096", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:02:10 03:17:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:02:10 03:17:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6", "EXIF ApertureValue": "37/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "50", "EXIF SubSecTime": "88", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "88", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "88", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3456", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2304", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8858", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "691200/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "460800/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "1571002845", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 135, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "00001058a4"}