Pope Francis dedicated his entire general audience on May 31 to sharing the life of Venerable Matteo Ricci, a 16th-century Jesuit missionary in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pope, who has mentioned China at every Wednesday general audience in the past three weeks, praised Ricci\u2019s \u201cmissionary spirit\u201d in witnessing to the Gospel in the heart of the Imperial City of Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMatteo Ricci died in Beijing in 1610 at the age of 57, a man who gave his entire life for the mission,\u201d Francis said in St. Peter\u2019s Square on May 31.\u201cHis love for the Chinese people is a model, but what represents a current path is his consistency of life, the witness of his life as a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ricci is known for introducing Christianity to China\u2019s imperial Ming Dynasty. By studying the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
language and adopting the local clothes and customs, the Jesuit priest gained access to the interior parts of the country that had been closed to outsiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe always followed the path of dialogue and friendship with all the people he met, and this opened many doors for him to proclaim the Christian faith,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter Francis Xavier\u2019s attempt, another 25 Jesuits had tried in vain to enter China. But Ricci and one of his confr\u00e8res prepared themselves very well, carefully studying the Chinese language and customs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After first arriving in Macao in 1582, Ricci persevered in China for 18 years before he was able to enter Beijing\u2019s Imperial City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope Francis described how Ricci engaged in dialogue with Chinese scholars, sharing mathematical and astronomical knowledge that \u201ccontributed to a fruitful encounter between the culture and science of the West and the East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, Ricci\u2019s fame as a man of science must not obscure the deepest motivation of all his efforts: that is, the proclamation of the Gospel,\u201d the pope said, according to a Catholic News Agency report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the scientific dialogue, with the scientists, he went forward, but he gave testimony of his own faith, of the Gospel. The credibility obtained through scientific dialogue gave him the authority to propose the truth of Christian faith and morality, of which he spoke in depth in his principle Chinese works, such as \u2018The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once Ricci entered Beijing in January 1601, he never left. He is buried in Beijing\u2019s Zhalan Cemetery, the first foreigner to be buried on Chinese soil during the Ming dynasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the last days of his life, to those who were closest to him and asked him how he felt, Matteo Ricci \u2018responded that he was thinking at that moment if the joy he felt inside was greater than the idea that he was close to the end of his journey to go and taste God, or the sadness that could cause him to leave the companions of the whole mission that he loved greatly, and the service he could still do to God Our Lord in this mission,\u2019\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope Francis underlined that it was prayer that nourished Ricci\u2019s missionary life in which he helped \u201clead many of his disciples and Chinese friends to accept the Catholic faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that missionaries can learn from how Ricci testified with his own life to what he proclaimed. Francis said: \u201cThis is the consistency of evangelizers. \u2026 I can say the \u2018Creed\u2019 by heart, I can say all the things we believe, but if your life is not consistent with what you profess, it\u2019s useless.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat attracts people is the testimony of coherence; we Christians are called to live what we say, and not pretend to live as Christians but live as worldly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope Francis advanced the sainthood cause for Ricci last December on the pope\u2019s 86th birthday. In the decree promulgated on Dec. 17, the pope declared that Ricci lived a life of heroic virtue, making him \u201cvenerable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, at the end of his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis asked Catholics to pray that the Gospel can be fully and freely shared in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI invite everyone to lift up prayers to God that the good news of the crucified and risen Christ can be announced in its fullness, beauty, and freedom, bearing fruit for the good of the Catholic Church and all of Chinese society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis dedicated his entire general audience on May 31 to sharing the life of Venerable Matteo Ricci, a 16th-century Jesuit missionary in China. The pope, who has mentioned China at every Wednesday general audience in the past three weeks, praised Ricci\u2019s \u201cmissionary spirit\u201d in witnessing to the Gospel in the heart of the Imperial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5341,"featured_media":19299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n