This is old news
by now, but the Agenzia Fides reported back in late January that the cause for canonization for
Father Matteo Ricci is again active. Ricci always held a special place in my imagination partly because he was (and continues to be) maligned by ideologues. I noted Ricci's 400th anniversary on this blog back in May.
The sainthood cause for 16th-century
Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci was reopened on January 24, following Mass at
the Cathedral of San Giuliano in the diocese of Diocese of
Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia, where he was born.
The process of
beatification originally launched in 1984 when he was named a Servant of God.
Bishop Claudio Giuliodori of Macerata said that although the cause stalled soon
after it was opened, "these 25 years have not passed in vain because the
Lord has given us clear signs of a deeper understanding of the prophetic
intuitions of Father Matteo Ricci."
Father Matteo Ricci was born in 1552 in
the Marche town of Macerata. He entered the Society of Jesus and was missioned
by his superiors to study mathematics and astronomy before leaving for the Far
East at the age of 26.
Ricci's itinerary included four years in Goa (west coast
of India) before traveling to China. On mainland China he settled in Zhao Qing
in the southernmost Guangdong Province; he was proficient in studying Chinese.
During his time there he produced his global "Great Map of Ten Thousand
Countries," which revolutionized the Chinese understanding of the rest of the
world. A copy of the map is on display at the United States Library of
Congress.
In 1589 Father Ricci moved to Zhao Zhou and began sharing European
mathematical discoveries with Chinese scholars. He became known as "Li Madou"
and was renowned for his extraordinary memory and knowledge of astronomy. He
eventually became a member of the court of Ming Emperor Wanli.
In 1601 he was
allowed into the Forbidden City of Beijing, where he worked until his death in
1610.
Ricci's postulator (the person promoting the inquiry for the sainthood) is Jesuit Father Anthony Witwer, who is coordinating and supervising a historical commission that has been established to collect all the writings and
documents attributed to Father Ricci, along with those that reference him in publication. The
commission's work will conclude with a critical study on the writings of Matteo Ricci along with a judgment as to the authenticity and value of documents on
him.
In a message to the Diocese of Macerata inaugurating commemorations of the
400th anniversary of Father Ricci's death in Beijing in 1610, Pope Benedict XVI
wrote that Father Ricci was "gifted with profound faith and extraordinary
cultural and academic genius." He "dedicated long years of his life
to weaving a profound dialogue between West and East, at the same time working
incisively to root the Gospel in the culture of the great people of China. Even
today, his example remains as a model of fruitful encounter between European
and Chinese civilization. In considering his intense academic and spiritual
activity, we cannot but remain favorably impressed by the innovative and
unusual skill with which he, with full respect, approached Chinese cultural and
spiritual traditions. It was, in fact, this approach that characterized his
mission, which aimed to seek possible harmony between the noble and millennial
Chinese civilization and the novelty of Christianity, which is for all
societies a ferment of liberation and of true renewal from within, because the
Gospel, universal message of salvation, is destined for all men and women
whatever the cultural and religious context to which they belong."
The Pope continued, "What made
his apostolate original and, we could say, prophetic, was the profound sympathy
he nourished for the Chinese, for their cultures and religious
traditions." Ricci was likewise "a model of
dialogue and respect for the beliefs of others and made friendship the style of
his apostolate during his twenty-eight years in China."
History shows us that
Ricci remained faithful to this style of evangelization to the end of his life.
He made the gospel accessible to people, especially the intellectual classes by
"using a scientific methodology and a pastoral strategy based, on the one
hand, on respect for the wholesome customs of the place, which Chinese
neophytes did not have to abandon when they embraced the Christian faith and,
on the other, on his awareness that the Revelation could enhance and
complete" those customs. As the Fathers of the Church did in the time of
the encounter between the Gospel and Greco-Roman culture, the author of the
"Treatise on Friendship" undertook his "farsighted work of
inculturation of Christianity in China by seeking constant understanding with
the wise men of that country."
The concluded his anniversary remarks by
saying that we, "Following his example, may our own communities, which
accommodate people from different cultures and religions, grow in a spirit of
acceptance and of reciprocal respect."
Anthony E. Clark's article "Weaving
a Profound Dialogue between West and East": On Matteo Ricci, S.J., for
Ignatius Insight is helpful for a much broader perspective. Plus, Scranton University hosts a blog entry on Father Ricci that shows a bit his depth of character that you may find interesting.
