Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The search for “harmony between the noble and millennial Chinese civilisation and the novelty of Christianity”: that was what made the apostolate of Father Matteo Ricci “prophetic” and 2an example to be followed”.  The Jesuit priest’s evangelising mission was recalled by Benedict XVI in a message sent to Msgr. Claudio Giuliodori, bishop of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia (Italy) to mark the numerous initiatives underway celebrating the IV centenary of the death of the Macerata native Father Matteo Ricci.

The Pope writes of the Jesuit that “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 civilisation”. 

“"In considering his intense academic and spiritual activity, we cannot but remain favourably 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 characterised his mission, which aimed to seek possible harmony between the noble and millennial Chinese civilisation 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”.

“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. We only need to recall his Treaty on Friendship (De amicitia – Jiaoyoulun), which met with great success from its earliest edition in Nanchino in 1595. A model of dialogue and respect for other beliefs this son of your region, made friendship the guiding style of his apostolate which lasted 28 years in China.  The friendship that he offered was returned in kind by the local populations thanks to the climate of respect and esteem that he sought to cultivate, concerning himself to gain an increasingly better knowledge of the traditions of the China of the time.  Despite the difficulties and lack of understanding that he encountered Father Ricci remained faithful till his death, to this style of evangelisation, giving birth, we could say, to a scientific methodology and a pastoral strategy based upon, on the one hand, respect for the healthy local traditions that Chinese neophytes did not have to abandon when they embraced the Christian faith and on the other, based on the awareness that the Revelation would only further enrich and complete this.  And it was from these very convictions that he, as the Fathers of the Church did before him in the encounter between the Gospel and the Greek-Roman culture, set out on his farsighted work of the inculturisation of Christianity in China, establishing a solid bond with the learned of that Nation”.

“In following his example – concluded the Pope – may our communities, within which people of different cultures and religions live, grow in a spirit of welcome and reciprocal respect”.