Hao Kaizhi
Feast: 29 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Joachim Hao Kaizhi was born in Guizhou in 1782. He was baptised at the age of twenty, taking the name Joachim, gave generously to the poor of his neighbourhood, and gave over his own house to be used as a church. In 1814, after the Jiaqing emperor forbade the Catholic religion, he was imprisoned for his faith, made to kneel in chains for fourteen hours until he fainted, marked on the face with four characters naming his religion an evil sect, and sent with a group of Catholics into exile at Yili.
While Yili was besieged and the imperial soldiers could not hold it, he led the Christians in prayer and the besieging army withdrew; for this he was pardoned and allowed home to Guizhou, where he at once set up a house of prayer, the faith being then driven underground. He was arrested a second time, and the officials tried heavy punishments to make him give up the faith, but he held firm; after two months in prison he was sentenced to be strangled, and died at the age of fifty-seven. Pope Leo XIII declared him blessed on 27 May 1900, and Pope John Paul II canonised him with the martyrs of China on 1 October 2000; his feast is 29 May.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Guizhou layman twice imprisoned for the faith and strangled for it.
Connected on this site
- Joachim Hao Kaizhi Saint“Joachim Hao Kaizhi was born in Guizhou in 1782.” — this site's research
- Wikipedia (Chinese) - 郝開枝, translated (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Martirologio Romano — 9 July (Martyrs of China) — The Roman Martyrology's 9 July list of the Chinese martyrs names "Gioacchino He Kaizhi" among the catechists; Joachim Hao Kaizhi was canonised by John Paul II on 1 October 2000 among the 120 Martyr Saints of China.
- Wikidata Q20064150 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.