Fr. Agatho Rolf

Father Agatho Rolf, O.M. Cap., a Capucian-Fransiscan friar, took the name Agatho when he was ordained in 1897, probably after the long-lived Pope St. Agatho, known for his good nature and charity, who became pope in 678 and died in 681.

Photo courtesy of Ethel Scanlon and Mary Anne Selzer

Picture of Father Agatho Rolf at the Capuchin mission in Tsinchow, Kansu Province, China, 1928.

Fr. Agatho was born William Ferdinand Rolf on 18 Feb 1869 in Pittsburgh, PA. He was ordained into the Catholic Capuchin order on 17 June 1897, and served nearly ten years of his life as a missionary in Tsinchow, Kansu Province, China.

Much is known about Fr. Agatho due to the letters he sent back about his missionary work, his passport filings, newspaper articles, and the documentation from the Capuchins meant to promote the missionary in China.

He translated a book from its original German, "The Most Vital Mission Problem of the Day," by Friedrich Schwager, into English (Techny, Ill., Mission Press, 1915.)

He first arrived in China in 1922, sailing from San Francisco aboard the Nanking and arriving in Shanghai. He worked for years in the missionary deep inside China, near the Manchurian border. He died of Typhoid fever just a year before his planned return to the United States. He was buried at the missionary along with a number of other missionaries who also succumbed to the disease.

The Capuchin-Franciscan Friars had a strong presence in the Pittsburgh area, which may account for Father Agatho's selection of this particular religous order. More information on the Capuchin religious order can be found at www.capuchin.com.

Fr. Agatho's parents were Joseph B. Roolf and Mary Clara Bruggeman. Fr. Agatho's name was also spelled Rolf, Rolfe and even Roolfe. German birth records of his parents provide the surname name as Rolf, but in the U.S. most records are spelled with Roolf. However, Fr. Agatho generally used the Rolf spelling.