Global Catholics – Jesuit missionary personified inculturation

It’s important to remember that those of us who live in the U.S. and Europe are not the only ones who honor the Blessed Mother with celebrations and pilgrimages in May and other times of the year. In China, crowds flock to Our Lady of Sheshan on the outskirts of Shanghai to do the same. Such a reality provides a nice entry-point in discussing this new series devoted to “Global Catholics.”
The title itself is somewhat redundant, for Catholic literally means “universal” or “everywhere,” and so in a sense it already implies “global.” But it was not until recent decades that a greater appreciation arose for the notion of a poly-centric (“many-centered”) church.
For generations, the characterization of the church was primarily pyramidal and Euro-centric, exporting cultural hegemony and hierarchical emissaries to far-flung corners of the world, often unconcerned with the “reception” process of the faith. Architecture, literature, traditions, even languages that were formed in the Hellenistic-Roman-Mediterranean basin were shipped around the world, sometimes with little regard for the distinctiveness of the lands to which they were being sent. Think even of the dominance of Europea-inspired artwork depicting Jesus with flowing golden locks and heavily Anglicized features which ignored the Semitic historicity and regional background of the man called by those who knew him Y’shua ben Yosef.
In recent years, a focus on the “inculturation” process by which the seed of faith takes root and flourishes in the distinct “soil” of various lands has come to the forefront. This series will seek to tell some of these stories and to appreciate the splendor of the one faith refracted through countless cultural moments and settings, as pure unfiltered light is enjoyed through stained glass windows, often as the letter to the Hebrews puts it, “in many and various ways.”
To return to Shanghai – in 1582, perhaps the patron image of inculturation, Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, entered China for the first time. He gradually gained the trust of the aristocratic courts in the country, trading wisdom and inventions with the Chinese scholars among whom he chose to live, and adapting his dress, mannerisms, and language patterns to those of the people he sought to bring to Christ.
Even though he was born in Macerata, Italy, his was not the typical cookie-cutter European approach to missionary activities. He appreciated the unique and sophisticated culture into which he had recently set foot.
Yet he proclaimed Christ’s message and salvation in his name without trepidation or hesitancy. Though his methods were controversial at the time, he was so well-respected by his adopted compatriots that even today people visit the tomb of the Westerner revered by the Chinese as Li Ma-Dou Xitai (loosely translated as Honorable Matteo, Wise Man of the West).
During and after Ricci’s life, debate raged as to whether he went too far in allowing pre-Christian Chinese practices to continue among the newly-baptized and in accommodating Christianity to “unbelievers,” an argument that became known as the Chinese Rites Controversy.
In May 2010, Ricci’s cause for canonization was re-opened and began to be examined afresh by historians and theologians. At that time Pope Benedict claimed that his mission represented “a fortunate synthesis of proclaiming the Gospel and of dialogue with the culture of the people receiving it, an example of balance between doctrinal clarity and prudent pastoral action.”
Bishop Claudio Giuliodori recently completed the diocesan phase of the investigation and presented it in finalized form to Pope Francis, a member of Ricci’s own order. Thus, there remains perhaps the highest hope in 400 years that Ricci could be named a saint during this pontificate.

Michael M. Canaris is an administrator at Fairfield University’s Center for Faith and Public Life and is on the faculty for the Department of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies at Sacred Heart University.