Alex Hertelendy

HS 113
Dr. Murphy
29 May 2015
Jesuits in Asia and Latin America
The Jesuits would begin to establish ministries in parts of Asia and Latin America in a
time when the Age of Exploration was starting to take hold. This idea to travel to distant lands
would be the first of its kind and can be seen in the letters written by Francis Xavier in Jesuit
Writings. Xavier mentions the difficulties of spreading the Word of God to the native people
due to a number of factors, but the most prevalent was the language barrier. Initially Xavier
acted like a conqueror of the new land by forcing the people to accept the new religion and on
one account encouraging the children of the village to destroy the pagan worship statues of a
village. For the boys take the idols and smash them to bits. They spit upon them and trample
them under their feet (pg69), these actions would later be regretted by Xavier as he would
continue his mission work in Asia. As Xavier traveled throughout Asia, he began to understand
that in order to gain followers; he must take an active part in the culture and immerse himself
in their traditions. This would allow the Jesuits to understand that in order to reach the people
of different countries; one must assimilate with the culture of the people.
It seems like a radical idea during a time when the Age of Exploration taught explorers
to introduce their own culture to the new lands, rather than learn about the culture that had

already been established. Though this idea seems pretty reasonable in modern times, during
the mid-1500s it was not seen as an ideal way to deal with the new people they had
encountered.
The idea of learning about a new culture and using it as a means to teach the natives is
evident when Matteo Ricci would travel to China to start a successful mission. His work would
eventually inspire 200,000 Chinese to convert to Catholicism. An example of Ricci immersing
himself in the culture is in Jesuit Writings as Ricci breaks down the difference between
reincarnation, the taking of life, and the true meaning of fasting. Instead of writing in a way
that would depict the Chinese as wrong, Ricci writes this work in a commentary style that
compares the two and does not state which of the two beliefs is more desirable. One of many
examples of the respect for both belief systems Ricci showed can be seen on page 96 when
Ricci says Now your revered religion teaches
In addition to his book The True meaning of the Lord of Heaven, Ricci would create a
Catechism for the Chinese and allow them to say mass in their native language. This action
would anger the pope and cause the church to issue a statement that banned the use of any
other language beside Latin to be used for mass. As the Ricci and his Jesuit contemporaries
were translating texts into native languages, there was still another obstacle that needed to be
dealt with. This obstacle was the fact that the natives had no understanding of the key
concepts of God and other parts of the faith. In order for the natives to fully grasp the
concepts, the Jesuits would need to teach them about the faith.

As the Jesuits began to expand their ministries to new lands, they would experience
some difficulties along the way. These difficulties would inspire the Jesuits to create new ways
to fully understand culture and one could argue that the idea of inculturation would soon
became a hallmark of Jesuit ministries.