(January 25, 2010) A bishop in the birthplace of famous missionary to China Matteo
Ricci on the weekend re-launched the process to beatify the Jesuit priest. Bishop
Claudio Giuliodori of Macerata diocese presided at the first session of a diocesan
tribunal into the matter in San Giuliano Cathedral. The tribunal’s main task is to
hear witnesses to ascertain whether people considered Father Matteo Ricci a holy man
during and after his lifetime and whether devotion to him still exists. Father Ricci
was born in 1552 in Macerata, Italy and died on May 11, 1610 in Beijing. Yesterday’s
tribunal session swore in officials including the new Postulator for the Cause, Jesuit
Father Tony Witwer. A historical commission has also been established to collect all
writings and documents attributed to Father Ricci. The commission will then make a
study and evaluation of his works and transmit its verdict to the Congregation for
the Causes of the Saints. The beatification process for the famous Italian Jesuit
missioner to China was re-launched in Macerata, the city of his birth, by the local
bishop on January 24. The canonization process was first opened in April 1984 and
the diocesan phase concluded on April 13, 1985. Matteo Ricci was then declared a “Servant
of God.” For several reasons, however, the process lost impetus but Bishop Giuliodori
has taken renewed interest in the cause. At the same time it was reported that an
exhibition will open in Beijing to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the priest’s
death.