Although it has taken more than 400 years, the sainthood cause of Jesuit
Father Matteo Ricci, the 16th-century missionary to China, appears to
be back on track.
Bishop Claudio Giuliodori, apostolic
administrator of the Diocese of Macerata, Italy, where Father Ricci was
born in 1552, formally closed the diocesan phase of the sainthood
process May 10. The cause now moves to the Congregation for Saints'
Causes at the Vatican.
Bishop Giuliodori had met Pope Francis, a
Jesuit, at the Vatican the first week of May. He wrote in the Macerata
diocesan newspaper, "I never imagined I'd be able to speak about the
cause of Father Matteo Ricci with a Jesuit pope. After the great
attention given by Benedict XVI, who never missed an occasion to
encourage us to promote the cause, we now have the joy of placing it
into the hands of a Jesuit."
The bishop said when he spoke to
Pope Francis about the cause, the pope highlighted Father Ricci's
"innovative method of evangelization based on the inculturation of the
faith" and the missionary's courage and humility in learning from the
Chinese.
Father Ricci died in Beijing May 11, 1610, and his death
was followed by centuries of church debate and even disputes over the
extent to which a very limited number of Confucian practices --
including veneration of ancestors -- could be seen as a tolerable part
of Chinese social and cultural tradition rather than as religious
practices incompatible with Christianity.
Marking the 400th
anniversary of Father Ricci's death in 2010, retired Pope Benedict said
Father Ricci's life and mission represented a "fortunate synthesis of
proclaiming the Gospel and of dialogue with the culture of the people
who are receiving it, an example of balance between doctrinal clarity
and prudent pastoral action."
Father Ricci is also known for
having brought European scientific instruments and knowledge to China,
opening up a scientific exchange between the two continents, the
now-retired pope had said. However, Father Ricci "didn't go to China to
bring science, but to bring the Gospel, to bring God," the pope said.
The
diocesan phase of Father Ricci's sainthood cause opened in 1984, but
was almost immediately closed when questions were raised about his
commitment to pure Christianity. Opened again with Vatican approval in
2010, much of the work the past three years has involved an examination
by historians and theologians of Father Ricci's writings and of the
writings of those who worked with him, according to the Macerata
diocesan website.