VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 185   
   DATE 22-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Pope's message to international congress on Fr. Matteo Ricci   
      
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    Pope's message to international congress on Fr. Matteo Ricci   
    Vatican City, October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin   
   has sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father Francis to the bishop of   
   Macerata, Nazzareno Marconi, on the occasion of the international congress on   
   the Jesuit Fr. Matteo Ricci, organised by the University of Macerata, Italy,   
   and   
   the Confucius Institute (founded by the "Hanban" Office of the Chinese Ministry   
   of Education, for teaching the Chinese language and culture), and held from 21   
   to 23 October.   
    In his text, the Pope expresses his appreciation for the initiative, intended   
   to facilitate detailed study of the missionary work and cultural activity   
   carried out by Fr. Ricci, born in Macerata and a "friend of the dear Chinese   
   people". The Holy Father also hopes that "the memory of such a zealous man of   
   the Church, attentive to social changes and committed to interweaving relations   
   between the European and Chinese cultures, may reaffirm the importance of   
   dialogue between cultures and religions in a climate of mutual respect and with   
   a view to the common good".   
    The congress "New perspectives in the study of Fr. Matteo Ricci", an   
   initiative   
   suggested by the president of Hanban and Chinese deputy minister of education   
   Xu   
   Lin during his official visit to the Confucius Institute of Macerata in 2013,   
   is   
   one of the most important on the figure of the Italian Jesuit who lived from   
   1552 to 1610.   
    Three themes will be considered, regarding little known aspects of the life   
   and   
   activity of Fr. Matteo Ricci. The first relates to work carried out in private   
   and public archives in China on unpublished documents in Chinese regarding   
   Matteo Ricci and his interlocutors, especially his Chinese correspondence.   
    Secondly, the conference will propose new models of analysis of Ricci's work,   
   studying hitherto little explored themes or works that have not been adequately   
   understood. In particular, there will be two presentations on Michele Ruggeri   
   and Matteo Ricci's Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, as well as analyses using the   
   tools of linguistics, semiology, rhetoric and intercultural comparativism.   
   There   
   will also be a discussion on the importance of cartography in the experience of   
   Ricci and the Jesuits in China, Japan and Korea.   
    The third theme regards Europe's reflection on itself in the light of the   
   image   
   of Chinese civilisation transmitted by Ricci, the Jesuits and other religious   
   orders, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The reactions   
   of   
   the European Enlightenment to the image of China will be considered, along with   
   the repercussions of Chinese philosophy for Jesuits in the history of European   
   philosophy and finally, the relationship between Ricci's quotation and   
   interpretations of the Analects of Confucius and the first translations of the   
   work by the Jesuits.   
      
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   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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