ASIA/CHINA - The Diocese of Fuzhou commemorates the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Jesuit Giulio Aleni, the "Confucius of the West," who came to tell “the story of Jesus”

Fuzhou (Agenzia Fides) – It has been 400 years since the Jesuit Giulio Aleni, known as the "Confucius of the West," landed in Fuzhou (now the capital of Fujian Province) to tell "the story of Jesus." Today, the Diocese of Fuzhou paid tribute to this witness of the Gospel with a seminar held from May 16 to 17 and with the inauguration of a statue of him in the Cathedral of Saint Dominic, during a ceremony presided over by Bishop Joseph Cai Bingrui.
The seminar dedicated to Giulio Aleni—who introduced neophytes to meditation on the mysteries of Jesus' life based on Gospel passages, according to the Ignatian method—was attended by scholars from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Italy. The personality and contribution of the Italian Jesuit missionary, who was also an astronomer, man of letters, geographer, and mathematician, were the focus of several presentations.
Priest and scholar Peter Zhao, of the Diocese of Beijing, presented a paper on "The Contribution of Father Giulio Aleni to the Life of the Province and to Cultural Exchange"; Professor Lin Jinshui spoke on the theme "From Matteo Ricci to Giulio Aleni"; and Dr. Jiang Wei spoke on "The Specificities and Consonances of Catholic Art in Portuguese India, the Spanish Philippines, and China during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty." Finally, the scholars took a guided tour of Father Aleni's "places" in the Fuzhou area.
Giulio Aleni was born in the Italian province of Brescia, Lombardy, in 1582. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1610 and was sent to China, where, after landing in Macau, he dedicated forty years of his life to proclaiming Christ among the Chinese. In fulfilling his mission, he also dedicated himself to teaching mathematics, which he considered a useful tool for connecting with the highest cultural circles of Chinese society. He was provincial of the Jesuit province of Huanan (southern China), and during his mission, he built more than 20 churches and administered the sacrament of baptism to 10,000 new Chinese Christians. In 1649, fleeing the soldiers of the Qing court, he took refuge in Yanping, where he died in May. His tomb is located on Mount of the Cross in Fuzhou. In his missionary work, Father Aleni adopted the ideas and practices followed by his Jesuit confrere Matteo Ricci, and published some twenty scientific, philosophical, spiritual, and doctrinal works.
During his missionary years, he was, after Ricci, the best expert of the Chinese language among his fellow community members. His work "The True Origin of All Things" (1628), dedicated to the question of Creation, was widely recognized and reprinted numerous times. In 1635, with the work "True Exposition of the Words and Works of the Incarnate Lord of Heaven," Aleni recounted the life of Jesus. Also of great value and interest are the texts of the 325 conversations he held with Chinese writers. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 20/5/2025)

Share:

local churches

---

---

mission

---

---

jesuits

---

---