Ferdinand Verbiest
Ferdinand Verbiest was the eldest child of Joos Verbiest, bailiff and tax collector of Pittem near Kortrijk, Belgium. Verbiest studied humanities with the Jesuits, in Bruges and Kortrijk, and next went to the Lelie College in Leuven, for a year, to study philosophy and mathematics. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) on 2 September 1641. Verbiest continued studying theology in Seville, where he was ordained as a priest in 1655. He completed his studies in astronomy and theology in Rome. His intention had been to become a missionary in the Spanish missions to Central America, but this was not to be. His call was to the Far East, where the Roman Catholic Church was 'on mission' to compensate for the loss of (Catholic) believers to the emerging Protestantism in Europe.