Francis today dedicated the entire general audience in St. Peter’s Square to the Jesuit Apostle of China. May the example of the young people from Ukraine and Russia who live together as brothers in the Italian town of Rondine “also awaken purposes of peace in those who have political responsibilities”.
Vatican City () – Matteo Ricci was great not for being a scientist, for his courage or for all the books he wrote, but “because he was consistent with his vocation, with the desire to follow Jesus”, Pope Francis said today in the general audience with the groups of pilgrims present in Saint Peter’s Square, which he dedicated to the great Jesuit, apostle of China.
Continuing his catechetical cycle on the theme of zeal in evangelization, after Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Andrew Kim, the Pope today focused on another crucial figure in the encounter of the Gospel with the peoples of Asia and forcefully underlined the great attention to the local context: “After Francesco Javier, another 25 Jesuits had tried in vain to enter China,” the Pope recalled. But Ricci and a companion prepared very well, carefully studying the Chinese language and customs, and finally managed to be allowed to settle in the country.”
Matteo Ricci “always followed the path of dialogue and friendship with all the people he met, and this opened many doors for him to announce the Christian faith. His first work in Chinese was precisely a treatise On Friendship, which had great resonance”. Francisco recalled Ricci’s decision to assume the lifestyle and clothing of the country’s men of letters, and the study he carried out on the classic texts of Chinese culture to “be able to present Christianity in a positive dialogue with Confucian wisdom and with the uses and customs of Chinese society. An “inculturation” – he said – similar to that carried out by the Fathers of the Church the first centuries with the Greek culture.
His excellent scientific preparation also aroused interest and admiration, “beginning with his famous world map, the map of the entire world known at the time, with the different continents, which revealed to the Chinese for the first time a reality outside of China much broader than what they had thought”. But Matteo Ricci’s work – he added – “would never have been possible without the collaboration of his great Chinese friends, such as the famous doctor Pablo (Xu Guangqi) and doctor León (Li Zhizao)”.
However, all these dimensions should not “hide the deepest motivation of all your efforts: the proclamation of the Gospel”. “In Matteo Ricci – Francisco commented – they saw a very intelligent man, very wise, very skillful in carrying out things and a very believer. So they said: what he preaches is true. He testified with his own life to what he announced, and this is the consistency of evangelizers, which also applies to us. We can recite the Creed by heart – added the Pope -, we can say all the things in which we believe, but if your life is not coherent, it is useless. What attracts people is consistency, living what we say”.
Matteo Ricci died in Beijing in 1610, at the age of 57, consumed by the fatigue of the mission. “His missionary spirit and his love for the Chinese people – the pontiff concluded – continue to be a model, but what is more current is his coherence in life. Brothers and sisters, let us also ask ourselves: am I consistent?
Among the groups present, Francis greeted the young people from the Rondine Citadel of Peace, in the Italian diocese of Arezzo and expressed his gratitude to “those who come from the Ukraine and Russia and from other countries at war, but have decided not to be enemies” but to live as brothers. May his example inspire all purposes of peace, including those who have political responsibilities”. On the Feast of the Visitation which closes the month of May, the Pope finally entrusted to the maternal intercession of Mary “those who are tested by the war, especially the beloved and tormented Ukraine that suffers so much”.
