“To underscore the mission of the Diocese of Hong Kong to be a bridge Church and promote exchanges and interactions between the two sides” is how the diocese described the five-day visit of Bishop Stephen Chow, SJ, to the Diocese of Beijing from April 17.
The diocesan communiqué stated that the bishop’s delegation would visit and pray at the tomb of pioneering Italian Jesuit Missionary Matteo Ricci [1552–1610], who was declared Venerable on 17 December 2022. ‘Bridge-building’ in the Chinese Church begins with Venerable Matteo Ricci, who brought the gospel to China through friendship and cultural and scientific dialogue.
The 413th anniversary of Father Ricci’s passing, and his first feast day after the Vatican declared him venerable, occurs on May 11. The visit by Bishop Chow and his delegates to Father Ricci’s tomb just a couple of weeks prior to this seems to be a coincidence. But in fact all that happens in our lives happens according to God’s plan. The phrase “by chance” does not exist in the lives of the faithful.
As a missionary, Father Ricci was convinced that sincere friendship was one of the best routes to conversion. He was 30 when he arrived in the Ming Empire in 1583, reaching Beijing 18 years later on 24 January 1601. He believed that if the elite, particularly the emperor and the court, adhered to Christianity, the entire Chinese people would be converted. Converting the elites in turn required an understanding of Chinese culture, customs, and traditions. To this end, he learned Chinese and lived a Chinese lifestyle.
Father Ricci consistently proclaimed the gospel from the perspective of the local culture, aiming to create solid, self-sufficient communities of disciples of Jesus, capable of evangelisation in their own right. While he was severely criticised at the time, and even reproached for allegedly deviating from the Church’s traditions, his legacy shows us a way to overcome the barriers of language, culture, lifestyles and beliefs, which we must do if we are to find alternative ways of evangelising in a multipolar world.
“Friendship is in fact a Confucian virtue: the fifth of the five social relationships, but the only one based on freedom,” wrote sinologist, historian, and theologian Gianni Criveller in AsiaNews. “Father Ricci appreciated friendship as an evangelical and humanistic value, and it was precisely around this common value that he built a network of friends that allowed him to found Christian communities in five leading cities in China.”
Father Ricci’s desire to create a deep friendship with the intellectuals of the Ming dynasty is a lesson for the Church in today’s world. No wonder Pope Francis, another Jesuit, believes in the power of dialogue, transforming people and governments, even if it involves suffering, loneliness, setbacks and dedication. Despite the suffering of the Chinese Church within an atheistic society, and repeated setbacks when it comes to striking an accord with the Chinese government, the pope believes that dialogue and friendship are the only means of winning hearts.
Venerable Ricci gives hope for the future of Christianity in China. We hope Bishop Chow’s visit to the capital city will open new paths of friendship and dialogue. jose CMF
