Ricci and the "Rites Controversy"

(continued from previous entry: "Matteo Ricci and the Holy See - the shroud of controversy")

The cause of sainthood for missionary Fr Matteo Ricci was re-opened in January 2010.* Here's a little bit more about the much debated historical controversy between Ricci and Rome.

Having read a little about Matteo Ricci myself, I recommend the following article, a fabulous piece of work by Michael Billington, called "Matteo Ricci, the Grand Design and the Rites Controversy", which contains all the intriguing elements of the story, in just a few pages.

I believe it is faithful to all sides of the Matteo Ricci story - consisting of a partial biography of Ricci, his faith and science background, and all the most controversial points of the great Ricci-China evangelisation drama including the dramatic assaults of Rome and the Franciscans against China and Ricci.

Having read the entire book on Ricci by Englishman Vincent Cronin entitled, "The Wise Man of the West", I'd say that this article concisely and faithfully presents all of the essentials of the Ricci saga - his life and his works in the sociological, cultural and religious contexts.

Michael Billington's article is a great read, giving the reader a sense of the intensity and heat of the drama between the Vatican and China, between Ricci and his opponents. It reveals the Chinese Emperor's fondness for Fr Ricci and his respect and honour for the missionary's religion, but also the emperor's outrage and disappointment at the later anti-Chinese Papal edicts, which caused the Emperor to withdraw the country from Christianity. The tides finally turned when the anti-Chinese papal bull was lifted in the 1940's, by Pope Pius XII, but it was 400 years too late. Nevertheless the Holy See from then on, has acknowledged the work and prophetic intuition of Fr Matteo Ricci. This recognition was further affirmed by popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who lauded Ricci as an exemplary missionary who was "gifted with profound faith and extraordinary cultural and academic genius." The cause of canonisation of Fr Matteo Ricci is once again open.*

Michael Billington's story presents this picture and provides the answers as to why China did not convert to Christianity, despite the monumetal work of Ricci and his associates. It shows some of the disturbing but objective downfalls of human weakness, cultural intolerance and Eurocentrism, closed mindedness and pride.

It presents the little known achievements how Christian missionaries played vital roles in some pivotal geo-political events that took place between China, Russia and Mongolia in the 17th century.

It was so saddening to read that the Chinese Emperor who once appointed the Jesuit missionaries to hold all leading positions in the astronomy and engineering bureaus of the imperial court, and who issued an edict granting all Christians the right to teach, preach, and convert throughout the empire, could later, many years after Ricci's death, have been so outraged at anti-Chinese edicts from Rome that led him to believe that Christianity was actually "closed-minded" and "superstitious".

The Franciscans who came into China a little after Ricci, rivalled the Jesuits in an effort to evangelise the Chinese. They modelled their strategy on the evangelical success they enjoyed in Japan, India and the Americas by demanding a complete severance of native people from paganism. They demanded the Chinese to do the same, little knowing, and refusing to recognise and learn for themselves, that Confucianism was an entirely different thing from paganism and superstition which they saw in other places. This disparity led to the bitter and fierce conflict that ensued between the Jesuits and Rome upon the persuasion of the Franciscans.

Anyway, I am rewriting the article and making a blunder of it. The original is much better. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know about Ricci and just what happened in that high drama of the 16-17th century between Rome and the ready-to-convert China and the most unfortunate downfall of the whole story.

Here is the link:

"Matteo Ricco, the Grand Design, and the Disaster of the 'Rites Controversy' "
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2001/2843m_ricci.html

PS - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who is mentioned in the article, is the European philosopher who discovered the link between the I-Ching and the binary code.

* Fr Paul Zalonski, "Matteo Ricci on tract for sainthood?"
http://communio.stblogs.org/2010/02/matteo-ricci-on-tract-for-sain.html

Related entry: "Is Tai Chi Opposed to Christianity?"
http://thetaoandchristianity.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-tai-chi-and-taoism-opposed-to.html