(October 29, 2009) A new exhibit to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death
of the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci will open soon in the Vatican’s Charlemagne
Wing. Titled, “To the Heights of History: Fr Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) between Rome
and Beijing,” the exhibit is organised by Prof Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican
Museums, and will remain open from 30 October to 24 January, 2010. The exhibit is
the work of the Committee for the Celebration of the Fourth Centenary of Fr Matteo
Ricci, which is based in Macerata, Ricci’s hometown. The Jesuit missionary was the
first Westerner to be received at Beijing’s Imperial Court during the Ming dynasty.
He studied Chinese culture in depth, and provided the Chinese with Western knowledge
in fields like geography, astronomy, physics and geometry. He also presented the
Christian faith as the fulfilment of China’s own religious traditions and the rediscovery
of a religious Confucianism that had been lost over the centuries. Mgr Claudio Giuliodori,
Bishop of Ricci’s hometown, said he hoped “friendship with the Chinese people may
grow” because of the exhibit and “strengthen the communion with the Catholics of this
great country in accordance with the wishes the Holy Father expressed in the Letter
of May 2007, in which he referred to Fr Matteo Ricci, his style and model.”