Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hangzhou (Agenzia Fides) - Joseph Yang Yongqiang, Bishop of Hangzhou, a few days after his return from Rome, where he had participated in the last Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, accompanied the Italian President Sergio Mattarella, together with many priests of his diocese, to the cemetery of the Catholic missionaries near Lake Xizi, to pay homage to the Italian Jesuit missionaries buried there. The Park houses the mausoleum where the remains of 15 famous Jesuit missionaries rest, who sacrificed their lives to proclaim the Gospel in China (see Fides, 24/9/2024).
Among them, in addition to Martino Martini (1614-1661), Father Nicolas Trigault (1577-1629), Father Lazaro Cattaneo (1560-1640) and Father Emmanuel Diaz (1574-1659), there is also Father Prospero Intorcetta (1626-1696), a Sicilian Jesuit and a famous compatriot of President Mattarella.
The priests of the Diocese of Hangzhou took part in the commemoration of the missionaries, a highlight of President Mattarella's visit to China (7-12 November), the first state visit of an Italian president to the People's Republic.
During the month of November, which in the Catholic Church is particularly dedicated to the memory of the deceased, the Chinese priests prayed together with the bishop in front of the missionaries' urns. The Church of Hanzhou keeps alive the memory of the missionaries who spread the Gospel in this region of China in the Catholic Missionaries' Cemetery. The Missionaries' Mausoleum is a popular pilgrimage site all year round, but especially during the period of remembrance of the dead. Father Prospero Intorcetta was born in Piazza Armerina on August 28, 1625. After his ordination, he spent a short time in Palermo (President Mattarella's hometown) and decided to go to China as a missionary, where he arrived in 1659. In his work "Sapientia Sinica", he was the first European to translate the works of Confucius, making a fundamental contribution to the spread of Confucian thought and teaching in Europe.
Intorcetta led the formation of the first young native novices in China; he acted as mediator when a dispute suddenly broke out between the Portuguese and French Jesuits. He died on October 3, 1696 in Hangzhou. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 12/11/2024)
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