2010-01-25 12:55:57

Ricci’s beatification cause back on track


(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.







All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.