Ecological Crisis and Strategy in the Jesuit China Mission

In Laudate Deum (2023), Pope Francis calls on those negotiating today’s climate emergency to be “strategists.” No organization has a longer history of strategy-making than the pope’s alma mater, the Society of Jesus, whose China mission was founded during an ecological crisis. No Jesuit is more cele...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Parr, Adam (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: Journal of Jesuit studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 11, Issue: 4, Pages: 521-543
Further subjects:B global crisis of the seventeenth century
B Jesuit way of proceeding
B agricultural reform
B strategy process research
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:In Laudate Deum (2023), Pope Francis calls on those negotiating today’s climate emergency to be “strategists.” No organization has a longer history of strategy-making than the pope’s alma mater, the Society of Jesus, whose China mission was founded during an ecological crisis. No Jesuit is more celebrated as a strategist than Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), who observed the effects of that crisis in 1604 and praised the emperor’s response but noted its inadequacy. As a result of this, and the influence of Xu Guangqi (1562–1633), the idea of introducing European science to China materialized as the final strand of the China mission’s strategy. Xu’s own career was dedicated to preserving Ming China through agricultural and military reform, and his ideas are present in Ricci’s work. Thus, Ricci’s strategy-making was forged in the context of challenges recognizable today, and its strengths and limitations represent a resource for the strategists addressed by Pope Francis.
ISSN:2214-1332
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of Jesuit studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/22141332-11040001