 After finishing high school studies in Trent in 1631, he entered the Society of Jesus, from where he was sent to study classical letters and philosophy at the Roman College, Rome (1634–37).However his interest was more in astronomy and mathematics which he studied under Athanasius Kircher.His request to be sent as a missionary to China had already been granted by Mutius Vitelleschi, the then Superior General of the Jesuits.