Can Matteo Ricci’s Beatification Mend China’s Rift With the Catholic Church?

The Atlantic ^ | 11/1/3/13 | Debra Bruno

[marshmallow]

The campaign to turn the 16th century Jesuit into a saint depends on finding a miracle. Restoring Sino/Vatican relations may require one, too.

When Matteo Ricci walked the streets of Beijing more than 400 years ago, he was a celebrity. The Jesuit was the first Westerner to enter the gates of the Forbidden City. He impressed the emperor by predicting solar eclipses. He created an enormous map that gave Ming dynasty Chinese a sense of the rest of the world for the first time. He spoke and read Chinese well enough to translate Euclid.

And even though, after 13 years in China, he began to dress in the garb of an imperial scholar-official, his goal was to convert the Chinese to Catholicism, which he did with some success and considerable flair.

Now all he needs is a miracle or two. Literally.

In May, the Vatican body that overseas canonization pushed ahead the case for making Ricci, who died in 1610, a saint. The Catholic Church has collected hundreds of documents that provide evidence of his “heroic virtues” and has dubbed him a Servant of God, which puts him on the first rung of four steps toward full-fledged sainthood. In order for him to advance, Ricci’s supporters must now find evidence of popular devotion to Ricci, that prayers to him have cured fatal illnesses, or that his body hasn’t decayed in the 403 years since his death.

That next step might take some time, says the Reverend Gianni Criveller, the Hong Kong-based Jesuit assembling the historic documents for the process. Several years ago, Criveller says, a woman said she had been cured of an illness after praying to Ricci, but church officials didn’t think it was a strong-enough claim. The woman was sick, prayed to Ricci, and got well, but her.....

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks for posting this article, I read it with great interest: I'm a great Matteo Ricci fan.

“For all [Matteo] Ricci’s academic and personal talent, his pre-eminent, enduring gift was a capacity to delight in the company of others. He was able to accomplish so much—translate geometrical principles into Chinese, engage pastorally in theological debates with some of the brightest Buddhists of his day, and joyfully welcome thousands of inquisitive scholars to his home—because of the mutual support and companionship of his friends.

A few of these were his Jesuit brothers…But the vast majority of his friends were Chinese: the scholars, officials and local people he talked with on his travels and in the marketplace. To recall Ricci’s exploits, it is necessary to remember his company of friends.”

--Jeremy Clarke on Italian-born Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)

One of the most fascinating people in the history of China and of the Church.

[GreyFriar]

The communist government of China will never permit the Catholic church to freely exist. The “rift” will only end when either the Pope submits totaly to the Communist Chinese government, or the Chinese replace the current communist government with a non-communist one

[NYer]

h/t to GreyFriar for the ping and post.