VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 185
DATE 22-10-2015

Summary:
- Pope's message to international congress on Fr. Matteo Ricci

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 Pope's message to international congress on Fr. Matteo Ricci
 Vatican City, October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin
has sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father Francis to the bishop of
Macerata, Nazzareno Marconi, on the occasion of the international congress on
the Jesuit Fr. Matteo Ricci, organised by the University of Macerata, Italy,
and
the Confucius Institute (founded by the "Hanban" Office of the Chinese Ministry
of Education, for teaching the Chinese language and culture), and held from 21
to 23 October.
 In his text, the Pope expresses his appreciation for the initiative, intended
to facilitate detailed study of the missionary work and cultural activity
carried out by Fr. Ricci, born in Macerata and a "friend of the dear Chinese
people". The Holy Father also hopes that "the memory of such a zealous man of
the Church, attentive to social changes and committed to interweaving relations
between the European and Chinese cultures, may reaffirm the importance of
dialogue between cultures and religions in a climate of mutual respect and with
a view to the common good".
 The congress "New perspectives in the study of Fr. Matteo Ricci", an
initiative
suggested by the president of Hanban and Chinese deputy minister of education
Xu
Lin during his official visit to the Confucius Institute of Macerata in 2013,
is
one of the most important on the figure of the Italian Jesuit who lived from
1552 to 1610.
 Three themes will be considered, regarding little known aspects of the life
and
activity of Fr. Matteo Ricci. The first relates to work carried out in private
and public archives in China on unpublished documents in Chinese regarding
Matteo Ricci and his interlocutors, especially his Chinese correspondence.
 Secondly, the conference will propose new models of analysis of Ricci's work,
studying hitherto little explored themes or works that have not been adequately
understood. In particular, there will be two presentations on Michele Ruggeri
and Matteo Ricci's Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, as well as analyses using the
tools of linguistics, semiology, rhetoric and intercultural comparativism.
There
will also be a discussion on the importance of cartography in the experience of
Ricci and the Jesuits in China, Japan and Korea.
 The third theme regards Europe's reflection on itself in the light of the
image
of Chinese civilisation transmitted by Ricci, the Jesuits and other religious
orders, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The reactions
of
the European Enlightenment to the image of China will be considered, along with
the repercussions of Chinese philosophy for Jesuits in the history of European
philosophy and finally, the relationship between Ricci's quotation and
interpretations of the Analects of Confucius and the first translations of the
work by the Jesuits.

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