The prestigious Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica, has launched a new edition in simplified Chinese to mark its 170th anniversary, and as a gesture of friendship in the spirit of Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci.
Founded in 1850, the Italian journal is one of the oldest magazines in the world. Ever since, it has enjoyed a very intimate and special relationship with the Holy See and Roman Pontiffs, promoting dialogue between the Christian faith and contemporary culture with patience and respect.
Pope Francis, in his message to the journal, hoped that in its pages, “the voices of many different frontiers might be heard”. He also described the journal as “unique in its genre”.
The Pope himself gave La Civiltà Cattolica the model of Matteo Ricci or Li Madou (利玛窦) as he was known in China. Ricci arrived in China about four centuries ago, where among his contributions included creating a giant world map in 1602, which helped promote a wider understanding of the world and connect the Chinese people with other civilisations.
“In a divided world such as our own, it is an ideal image of the harmony of a land at peace,” said La Civiltà Cattolica in its press statement. “Thus, our [journal] desires to be, in its own way, a map of the world — connecting cultures and civilisations.”
In 1601, Ricci also composed a treatise on friendship. On one hand, it offered the Mandarin Chinese and the “literati” of the Ming Dynasty an opportunity to know the thinking of the great philosophers of the West. On the other hand, it offered the Jesuits and the great scholars within Western culture the foundation for dialogue with the great intellectuals of China.
“The world has learned much from this great culture, from the wisdom of the Chinese, thanks to the study and the passion of the Jesuits,” said the journal’s statement. It is for this reason that they decided to publish a Chinese edition, which they said, “contributes to making our magazine more and truly international”.
The Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in a letter to La Civiltà Cattolica’s Editor-in-Chief, Fr Antonio Spadaro SJ, praised the initiative, which intends to “write a new chapter – fruit of the friendly encounter with the rich tradition of the Chinese people”. He said this corresponds with the “particular vocation” of the journal which is “to build bridges and to establish dialogue with all people”. He hoped the Chinese edition “might become a solid instrument of mutual cultural and scientific enrichment”.
La Civiltà Cattolica’s writers are all Jesuits from different countries and continents, who offer unique and original contributions. Besides the original Italian and now Chinese languages, the journal is also published in English, French, Spanish and Korean.
The Chinese edition of La Civiltà Cattolica can be accessed online via the following websites: https://www.gjwm.org, http://www.gongjiaowenming.org and http://cn.laciviltacattolica.org. The WeChat account is gjwm1850