An interesting perspective

Thus it was many years ago when I met Bishop Jin Luxian in Rome, now bishop of Shanghai, who provides the introduction to the Chinese language edition of our book Who prays is saved. I met him at the University of Propaganda Fide and was immediately struck by his ability to be both an attentive listener and a great speaker

Giulio Andreotti

Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) in a portrait by Emmanuel Yu Wen-Hui, 1610, the Gesù Church, Rome

I began to get interested in China when I was very young, attending the programs of the Jesuit Missionary League of Students, to whom I owe a lot, because it was a means for acquiring knowledge that was to turn out very useful in my political work. Later I had frequent opportunities of becoming acquainted with the depth of the Chinese people through various trips beyond the Great Wall (I shall always remember the extraordinary quality of the questions asked by students of their universities during meetings that were dry and formal elsewhere) both in talks with Chinese figures stopping in Rome or taking part, elsewhere, in meetings of the Interparliamentary Union.
Every single person I met was different from the others but shared a common characteristic, which has always struck me in the Chinese: the attention with which they listen to their interlocutor. We who call ourselves “Western” often tend to believe that we’re the best and that when we engage in conversation we are making a concession to those in front of us. The Chinese, on the contrary, in listening to the other person always give the impression of needing to learn something new. And even doing so.
Thus it also was many years ago when I met Bishop Jin Luxian in Rome, now bishop of Shanghai, who provides the introduction of Chinese language edition of our book Who prays is saved. I met him at the University of Propaganda Fide and was immediately struck by his ability to be both an attentive listener and a great speaker. And yet I had nothing to teach that might enrich him. Indeed, I had the chance, later, to be enriched by him, attending a Mass in Shanghai Cathedral where I was moved by the poise and the participation of the faithful. A participation that may not always be found in our churches. Being a practicing Catholic it wasn’t that at that time I was unaware of the reservations that the Holy See then had about the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church, but I felt in those faithful, in the many young priests who officiated, a basis of truth and passion that we have a little lost.
Another opportunity for learning during my many years of friendship with the Chinese people was the study of the figure of Father Matteo Ricci, who is revered in that country as one of the fathers of the fatherland. The figure of Matteo Ricci, in fact, helps us to put the problem of relations with China in the right perspective. All the efforts of Matteo Ricci, and not just his, included among other things in the training methods of the Jesuits, was to devote years to learning the language and customs of the Chinese, to the point of seeming one of them, so as not to be seen as an outsider trying to bring to China a product of the West. This is a lesson valid not just for China but also has to do with the tensions and problems in the current world. It is in particular the proper antidote to the mistrust that, while varying from country to country, exists in much of the world towards the West and of which we must take account.

Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian imposes hands on Joseph Xing Wenzhi during the episcopal ordination that took place on 28 June 2005 [© Teresa Wo ye]

Thinking about relations between the Chinese nation and the Catholic Church, I’d like to call up a little formula from the language of mathematics. When we were in school they taught us the highest common denominator and the lowest common multiple. Of course, in life, when one proceeds by concepts and tries to assert one’s own ideas with logical rigidity, it’s a bit like striving for the highest common denominator. But often the search for the lowest common multiple is that which helps to build. That is, search, in everything, for an aspect, small if you like, potential if you like, on which however one can build a prevision of improvement, of evolution, a prevision of development.
This interpenetration, this familiarity of Catholics with concrete situations, can express itself in different forms. About fifteen years ago, for example, Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian told me that he had taken an interesting initiative: in China the school system is only public, and the government sets the opening hours of schools. But school activities only go up to a certain moment in the afternoon. So Bishop Jin had asked to open a vocational night school, using the state school facilities. The initiative was not “against” anyone, there were no objections, and so permission came from the authorities and the night school began to function. It is a drop of water in the ocean, but it opens an interesting perspective.
We, therefore, must seek to highlight this positive capacity of the contribution of religion, and in this case we’re speaking of the Catholic religion, to the overall development of the country, bringing out the total lack of ulterior motives.