(2023.5.31 Vatican News Deborah Castellano Lubov）
教皇フランシスコは31日の水曜恒例一般謁見での「使徒的熱意について」の連続講話で、聖フランシスコ・ザビエルの夢をかなえて中国に入国したイエズス会宣教師、尊者マッテオ・リッチ（ 1552 – 1610）を取り上げ、「彼の中国の人々への愛は、今も、一貫したキリストの教えの証しの模範、尽きることのない霊的力の源となっている」と讃えられた。
前週の連続講話で教皇は、中国行きの夢を果たせなかった韓国初の司祭、殉教者、聖キム・テゴンを「使徒的熱意」の模範として取り上げたが、この日は中国行きを果たしたリッチに注目された。リッチはイタリアに生まれ、イエズス会の学校で学んだ、教皇の”大先輩”だ。
イエズス会の多くの若い仲間と同様に、宣教師たちの海外での活動報告に強く感動し、極東への派遣を願い出た。念願かなって中国に派遣され、難しい中国語を辛抱強くマスターし、その国の文化に深く精通するようになった。
教皇は、「リッチにとって、度重なる抵抗を受け、多くの障害を乗り越えて北京に到着するのに、18年の歳月と揺るぎない信仰が必要でした。そして、中国語での著書と数学と天文学の知識のおかげで、彼は中国で、賢人、学者として知られ、尊敬を受けるようになり、その膨大な知識と、誠実かつ敬意を持って対話する能力が、福音への奉仕に生かされた。それによって、中国において、イエスへの多くの扉が開かれたのです」と語られた。
さらに「リッチは著作だけでなく、宗教生活、祈り、美徳の模範によって、福音を告げ知らせ、多くの中国人の弟子や友人を惹きつけ、カトリック信仰を受け入れさせた。…（57年の）生涯を宣教に捧げたのです」とされ、「皇帝によって中国の地に埋葬されることを許可された最初の外国人」となったことを強調された。
また教皇は、リッチのすべての活動を推進し、宣教師の生活を活気づけた「力強い祈りの生活」に注意を向けられ、「自分のキリスト教信仰が一貫しているかどうか自問するよう、信徒たちに勧める前に、自身が祈りを通してキリストに近づく努力を一貫して行うことこそ、偉大な宣教師の最大の特徴の一つなのです」と説かれた。
（翻訳・編集「カトリック・あい」南條俊二）
POPE FRANCIS GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
We are continuing these catecheses speaking about apostolic zeal, that is, what the Christian feels in order to carry out the proclamation of Jesus Christ. And today I would like to present another great example of apostolic zeal: we have spoken about Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Paul, the apostolic zeal of the great zealots; today we will talk about one – Italian, but who went to China: Matteo Ricci.
Originally from Macerata, in the Marches, after studying in the Jesuit schools and entering Society of Jesus in Rome, he was enthused by the reports of missionaries whom he had listened to and he grew enthusiastic, like so many other young people who felt the same, and he asked to be sent to the missions in the Far East. After the attempt by Francis Xavier, another twenty-five Jesuits had tried to enter China, without success. But Ricci and one of his confrères prepared themselves very well, carefully studying the Chinese language and customs, and in the end, they managed to settle in the south of the country. It took eighteen years, with four stages through four different cities, to arrive in Peking, which was the centre. With perseverance and patience, inspired by unshakeable faith, Matteo Ricci was able to overcome difficulties and dangers, mistrust and opposition. Think that, in that time, on foot or riding a horse, such distances… and he went on. But what was Matteo Ricci’s secret? By what road did his zeal drive him?
He always followed the way of dialogue and friendship with all the people he encountered, and this opened many doors to him for the proclamation of the Christian faith. His first work in Chinese was indeed a treatise On friendship, which had great resonance. To enter into Chinese culture and life, he first dressed like the Buddhist bonzes, according to the customs of the country, but then he understood that the best way was to assume the lifestyle and robes of the literati. The intellectuals dressed like university professors, and he dressed that way. He studied their classical texts in depth, so that he could present Christianity in positive dialogue with their Confucian wisdom and the customs of Chinese society. And this is called an attitude of inculturation. [In the early centuries of the Church] This missionary was able to “inculturate” the Christian faith, as the ancient fathers had done in dialogue with Greek culture.
His excellent scientific knowledge stirred interest and admiration on the part of cultured men, starting from his famous map of the entire world as it was known at the time, with the different continents, which revealed to the Chinese for the first time a reality outside China far more extensive than they had thought. He showed them that the world was even larger than China, and they understood, becaue they were intelligent. But the mathematical and astronomical knowledge of Ricci and his missionary followers also contributed to a fruitful encounter between the culture and science of the West and the East, which went on to experience one of its happiest times, characterized by dialogue and friendship. Indeed, Matteo Ricci’s work would never have been possible without the collaboration of his great Chinese friends, such as the famous “Doctor Paul” (Xu Guangqi) and “Doctor Leon” (Li Zhizao).
However, Ricci’s fame as a man of science should not obscure the deepest motivation of all his efforts: namely, the proclamation of the Gospel. With scientific dialogue, with scientists, he went ahead but he bore witness to his faith, to 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 principal Chinese works, such as The true meaning of the Lord of Heaven – as the book was called. Besides doctrine, his witness of religious life, virtue and prayer: these missionaries prayed. They went to preach, they were active, they made political moves, all of that; but they prayed. It is what nourished the missionary life, a life of charity; they helped others, humbly, with total disinterest in honours and riches, which led many of his disciples and friends to embrace the Catholic faith. Because they saw a man who was so intelligent, so wise, so astute – in the good sense of the word – in getting things done, and so devout, that they said, “But what he preaches is true, because it is part of a personality that witnesses, he bears witnesses to what he preaches with his own life”. This is the coherence of the evangelizers. And this applies to all of us Christians who are evangelizers. We can recite the Creed by heart, we can say all the things we believe, but if our life is not consistent with this, it is of no use. What attracts people is the witness of consistency: we Christians must live as we say, and not pretend to live as Christians but to live in a worldly way. Be careful of this, look at this great missionary – and he was an Italian, wasn’t he – looking at these great missionaries, see that the greatest strength is consistency: they were consistent.
In the last days of his life, to those who were closest to him and asked him how he felt, “he replied that he was thinking at that moment whether it was greater the joy and gladness he felt inwardly at the idea that he was close to his journey to go and savour God, or the sadness that leaving his companions of the whole mission that he loved so much, and the service that he could still do to God Our Lord in this mission,” (S. De Ursis, Report on M. Ricci, Roman Historical Archive S.J.). This is the same attitude of the Apostle Paul (cf. Phil 1:22-24), who wanted to go to the Lord, to find the Lord, but to stay “to serve you”.
Matteo Ricci died in Peking in 1610, at 57, a man who had given all his life for the mission. The missionary spirit of Matteo Ricci constitutes a relevant living model. His love for the Chinese people is a model; but the truly timely path is coherence of life, of the witness of his Christian belief. He took Christianity to China; he is great, yes, because he is a great scientist, he is great because he is courageous, he is great because he wrote many books – but above all, he is great because he was consistent in his vocation, consistent in his desire to follow Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, today we, each one of us, let us ask ourselves inwardly, “Am I consistent, or am I a bit ‘so-so’?”. Thank you.
