The Independent News Source
NCR on Kindle - NCR classifieds - YouTube - Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
PDF versionMatteo Ricci after 400 Years
by Richard McBrien on Jun. 01, 2010
This year we observe the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci, the famous Jesuit missionary to China who died on May 11, 1610.
Ricci, an eminent scientist in his own right, adapted Christianity to Chinese culture, promoted the use of Chinese rites, and assumed the status and dress of a mandarin. For that he was a great, but also a tragic figure in the history of the Church.
Pope Paul V (1605-21) was in office when Ricci died. Although infamously remembered for his censure of the astronomer Galileo for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun, Paul V approved in 1615 the use of the vernacular in the liturgy in China, thereby validating the bold missionary initiatives of Father Ricci.
Paul V’s successor, Gregory XV (1621-23), was determined to coordinate the Church’s widespread missionary efforts by establishing the Congregation for the Propagation (also called Propaganda) of the Faith in 1622.
The new congregation became a virtual headquarters of the Counter-Reformation because the missionary efforts were now directed not only to non-Christian lands but also to countries under Protestant control.
The first pope educated by the Jesuits, Gregory XV canonized the founder of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola, and another Jesuit, Francis Xavier, who is generally regarded as the greatest missionary of all time.
Pope Urban VIII (1623-44) founded the Urban College of Propaganda in 1627 to train missiona-ries, enlarged the work of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and sent missiona-ries, including non-Jesuits for the first time, to the Far East. The last was a fateful decision, as we will see below.
Pope Innocent X (1644-55) continued his predecessors’ support of the missions, but with a major difference. He also approved a decree of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith that Chinese rituals were not to be used in the liturgy in China, thus invalidating the innovative missionary gains that previous popes had supported.
However, his successor, Pope Alexander VII (1655-67), reversed field again and decreed on March 23, 1656 (46 years after Father Ricci’s death) that the Jesuit missionaries in China be allowed to use Chinese rites and, three years later, dispensed the native Chinese clergy from having to pray the Divine Office in Latin.
Alexander VII’s positive approach to the Jesuit missionaries in China was matched by his commissioning of the famous Bernini semicircular colonnades that, to this day, partially enclose St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
NCR: February 3-16, 2012
Subscribe to NCR to get all the news and special features that aren't always available online. In this issue:
- US News: Bishops Host Conference on Immigration
Conference fields advocates' questions on law, policy
- Special Section: Deacons. Serving as parish administrator; roles of wives; and more
- Study: Black Catholics are more engaged
New study by Notre Dame researcher about parish involvement in America
The next five popes did nothing to negate Alexander VII’s support for Mateo Ricci’s far-sighted missionary work: Clement IX (1667-69), Clement X (1670-76), Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89), Alexander VIII (1689-91), and Innocent XII (1691-1700).
But then the missionary situation in China went south, as it were.
Pope Clement XI (1700-21) was committed to the missionary work of the Church in northern Germany (where Protestants were now in control) and in India and the Philippines, and he established new missionary colleges in Rome.
In China, however, he found himself in the middle of a pastorally toxic dispute between Jesuit and Dominican missionaries. The Jesuits were using papally approved Chinese rites, and also embraced the cult of Confucius and of ancestors on the grounds that these cults were civic, not religious, in nature. The Dominicans strongly opposed such practices.
On November 20, 1704, Clement XI accepted the judgment of the Holy Office (formerly the Inquisition and now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) that missionaries in China should be prohibited from using Chinese rites. He reaffirmed that judgment in 1715.
Clement XI’s action proved disastrous to the Church’s missionary outreach in China. Chinese Catholics were persecuted and many missions were closed. It was not until 1939 that Pope Pius XII (1939-58) reversed Clement XI’s decrees, but by then the lasting damage had been done.
Pope Innocent XIII (1721-24), although educated by Jesuits, had developed an acute dislike of the Society of Jesus while serving as nuncio in Portugal. He even thought of suppressing the Order because of their lack of compliance with his predecessor’s prohibition against the use of Chinese rites.
He forbade the Jesuits from accepting novices unless, within three years’ time, he had satisfac-tory proof that they were complying with the papal ban. Later, in 1735, Pope Clement XII (1730-40) renewed Clement XI’s prohibition and launched an investigation into Jesuit missionary practices.
The final papal prohibition of Chinese rites occurred under Pope Benedict XIV (1740-58) in 1742, when he also extended the ban to the Malabar rites in India.
Pope Pius XII and history itself have validated the work of Matteo Ricci, but their judgments were a long time in coming.
© 2010 Richard P. McBrien. All rights reserved. Fr. McBrien is the Crowley-O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
It's hard to be a universal
It's hard to be a universal church when you refuse to find a way to be universal in practices.
I get brain whiplash from
I get brain whiplash from reading about all the shenanigans of some of the Popes! If they have the power to do all this, why don't they have the power to reverse the MAN-made rule of ordaining women to the priesthood??? Bobbie Paxton
Perhaps Benedict XIV is a
Perhaps Benedict XIV is a mentor to the current Pope, Benedict XVI, who seems to be intent on squelching the use of the vernacular in Roman liturgies, preferring instead of stilted English vernacular in "Latinic" verse.
On thing for sure---Roman Church history goes around and around. No wonder so many in the Vatican are dizzy.
One lesson here is that
One lesson here is that despite what a pope decrees, a subsequent pope can and just may overturn it. From my experience working in multicultural churches, one important lesson is that people like to pray in their own language. This includes personal and ritual prayers. Most people I know tolerate Latin because they know it's the official language of the Church, but still prefer their own language.
How imperialistic is it that any group/religion/nation can go into a foreign land and cause so much change? After all, the most common complaint I hear about Vatican II is too much changed. Yet the Church has instigated change for years.
That two different orders were at odds about how to reach out to people whose land they were in (even invading, in a sense) is telling about the Church. History has proven time and again that it is easier to make change from within than from the outside. When will the Church learn that most of the world is not impressed or interested in a western European theocratic way of doing things?
Jesus didn't "say" the first Latin Mass; the apostles didn't receive Communion at the Last Supper while kneeling at a rail (and the choir sang Palestrina in the background). Who was it that said something about man not being made for religion - religion is made for man? Or how badly did I drift from the quote?
This should stand as a
This should stand as a warning to us about how damaging to the Body of Christ internal battles within the Church are when the grops involved demand either-or outcomes.... Relevant for today, yes?
Regarding papal prohibition
Regarding papal prohibition of the Chinese rites, so much for orthotoxy.
Unfortunately, orthotoxy is alive and well in the bowels of the Vatican.
And recent times have shown us the "fruits" of this rigid, narrow-minded, legalistic, pompous, arrogant strand in the Church of Rome.
TITHING = ENABLING.
STOP ENABLING CONTINUANCE OF A SICK, DYSFUNCTIONAL CHURCH CULTURE.
If the legacy of Vatican II's call for ecclesial renewal is to have any chance of survival (much less success), it will be up to the laity and frontline clergy and religious to take up the cause. Do not put your faith in B16 and his lackey hierarchs: they are beholden to the old monarchical, triumphalistic status quo. No change = No life.
Why do so many hierarchs,
Why do so many hierarchs, including popes, limit Jesus' presence and gifts to set,time-bound rituals and formulas? The fathomless. real presence of Jesus to persons of faith transcends a specific language, culture, and rite. While Jesus is present in these set rites, His presence is not confined and limited to such. Our contact with and embracing of other cultures should incorporate and expand our particular faith's set ways and be flexible to realize Jesus limitless Grace is abundant and inclusive of other means/ways of outpouring.
Fr. McBrien's essay gives a picture of the changing sentiments of popes and practices, based upon their cultural, time-bound understandings. This is far from "definitive" or "infallible" and simply shows how we cannot depend on "papal infallibility" to supplement our personal responsibility to understand our faith and not abdicate our duty to continuously educate ourselves and use reason with prayer to understand and choose.
How many in Rome will
How many in Rome will recognize that with the reform of the reform and the Roman Missal that it is "deja vu all over again"?
How many in Rome will recognize that Christ used local customs and rituals to establish Catholicism?
My bet on both is not many.
Good article and the biography of Matteo Ricci is fascinating. As I recall he was welcome in the ruling halls and palaces of China and much appreciated for his wisdom. Rome could learn a little bit by reading his biography as well; but, alas, Rome prefers its own counsel and to repeat the great mistakes of its past instead of its great accomplishments.
Same old, same old, isn't
Same old, same old, isn't it? I've seen this happen a zillion times on the parish level throughout my life of service to the church. You have a pastor who is a very holy man and wants - and has- lots of devotional services. Then a new pastor comes in and wants none of that but instead makes social justice his end all and be all. The next pastor doesn't get into social justice so much so there's another abrupt switch to adult education - lots and lots of evening courses for the parish. Next pastor wants all of the energy put into liturgy. Next one wants only to expand or redo the facilities so that's the way we head now. It can be very, very confusing. What would be wrong with allowing for all of it and letting PARISHIONERS fit in anywhere their conscience and heart call them?
“What would be wrong with
“What would be wrong with allowing for all of it and letting PARISHIONERS fit in anywhere their conscience and heart call them?”
Great idea, J.H. I, too, have seen much of what you have seen in years of parish life. However, in order to grow spiritually and keep sane, I added one more dimension: theological study with university credentials. Now, although it would be great to have a priest with the vision to implement the kind of parish you outlined, I can start a House Church --not instead of, but in addition to whatever is the current pastor's "flavor of the month" at the parish.
Around a table liturgy, we can focus on and study what we think the Holy Spirit is calling us to. I have also seen this concept work well where a small community contacts a priest that 'helps out' with weekend liturgies, but is not assigned to the parish. Often the priest will agree to lead a study group that begins with Mass.
The unfortunate element that Benedict has brought to his papacy is his complete dominance of priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals in demanding that certain outmoded devotional practices be part of parish life. Whether the local pastor is for or against, say, Adoration and Benediction, this practice MUST be a part of parish life. However, as a church musician I can say that in our large 3500-family parish, only a handful attend this devotion. People much prefer to gather in small groups for study. It is a shame that small-group study is not offered to them at the parish level.
such small group study leads
such small group study leads inexorably to thinking about our Faith, to THEOLOGY!
Such small group study leads as in Solentiname to liberation, to empowerment
to love and to acting for justice and for peace.
Much safer to have them all safely kneeling at pre-scripted silent adoration ceremonies than to discuss and to learn, and to act.
At Solentiname, the priest presiding did not pretend to know more than the participants (despite his having studied with Thomas Merton as his Novice Master), but listened to the voice of the pilgrim People of God expressing true and deep aspirations for faith, freedom, justice, peace, understanding, compassion, love
and liberation.
As ecclesial politics,
As ecclesial politics, Richard McBrien's mini chronic of the "Chinese Rites Controversy" reads well. However, on the ground, the case is more nuanced. One element missing in McBrien's account is the social nexus of the opposing missionary forces.
The Jesuits were embedded in the elite and so (a little disingenuously perhaps)could claim that ancestor rites etc. were cultural rather than religious. This was adaptation (to social mores) rather than inculturation (ensouling culture with gospel values). The rites were also extremely patriarchal and justified a rigidly hierarchical social system. But then, that was on par with the feudal/ hierarchical Church from where the missionaries came.
Meanwhile the Franciscans were embedded in the villages, living their option with and for the poor. The Franciscans did not enrobe in Mandarin silk but in the peasants garb of rural serfs - causing much ridicule among the Jesuits. In the villages, the Franciscans were aware of the "superstitious" nature of the Chinese Rites. They were also aware of how the Chinese ancestral rites re-enforced the unjust (serf) social system. In opposing Chinese Rites the Franciscans opposed both "superstition" and an oppressive social ideology.
Today, with insights from cultural anthropology and our abandonment of Euro-centric theology, can we be more appreciative of the religiosity of the poor while encouraging its liberational potential. Meanwhile we can challenge the elite to make an option for justice and so loosen ancestral rites from any ideology of passive acquiescence to authority.
The Catholic villages baptised by the Franciscans survive to this day, and until recent massive migration to the cities retained a tight, Catholic identity. However much we side with the Jesuits in the Chinese Rites controversy, we have to admit that nothing much survived their centuries of engagement with the elite - except for the memory of a tragic history.
Fr. McBrien's conclusion that
Fr. McBrien's conclusion that Pope Pius XII "and history" validated Fr. Ricci's methods is weak. Clearly this subject is a prudential matter that can be argued from both sides. To say that the latest Pontiff to address this subject closes the argument is foolish. What if a future Pope reverses Pope Pius XII? Does that "and history" validate Pope Innocent X? A much better column would have addressed the differences between the Jesuit and Dominican approaches, the arguments for and against the two methods and opened a dialog about what has worked, at what cost and how those approaches might be applied in the future.
Thanks, Fr. McBrien for a
Thanks, Fr. McBrien for a great rundown. It keeps our eyes wide open. History is marvelous for seeing things that are and how they came to be....
Matteo Ricci was always a hero for me. He was an aggiornamento man, following in the footsteps of Paul for whom ethnic identity and culture were also very important in spreading the good news. It seems to me that the African RC church is taking up where Fr. Ricci left off; I sincerely hope they aren't squelched down the line. It's too bad the ICEL doesn't appreciate history, identity, culture for English-speaking countries.
How come "Francis Xavier is
How come "Francis Xavier is generally regarded as the greatest missionary of all time". I had thought that St Paul had had that honour already.....
Ricci's resurgence here in
Ricci's resurgence here in China is part of the Vatican strategy of rapprochement with Beijing. Unfortunately, the official impasse continues as the current pope remains resolute in his "Nihil sine EPISCOPO" stance concerning appointment of bishops, while Beijing resorts to a "Nihil sine NUNCIO" posturing awaiting the dismantling of the papal diplomatic corps in TAIWAN.
Happily, the quadri-centennial celebrations during this commemorative year have drawn people together in spite of institutional bickering, much in the same way Ricci's (Li Madou as he's known in Mandarin) own method of cultural assimilation once did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8QVzkVVRwk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jbe9JlZopg&feature=related
http://www.ucanews.com/2009/10/29/vatican-hosts-matteo-ricci-exhibition/
http://www.ucanews.com/2010/05/10/catholics-hope-ricci%E2%80%99s-helper-...
But my personal favorite remains this "cartoon" version of his life and work by schoolchildren in his birthplace of Macerata, Italy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nac41eRsjUc
EX ORE INFANTIUM, indeed!
Thusly treats the Saxon
Thusly treats the Saxon hierarchy the Spanish Mass in America.
abolition and second class citizenship
when the Spanish liturgy is our most vibrant, living, traditional and future in this entire hemisphere
and so the Saxon must eliminate it
Post new comment