Fresh News from China: Introducing Chinese Documents in the Propaganda Fide

This zoom presentation will introduce the contents of a new publication, the recently published catalogue of Chinese documents in the Archives of the Congregation of ‘Propaganda Fide’ in Rome (today the Holy See’s Dicastery for Evangelization). This volume offers not only an annotated list of its invaluable resources, but also reproduces the full text of a few rare or unique Chinese Christian texts. The Catalogue, compiled by Dr. Ad Dudink (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, ret.) and edited by Drs. Giuseppe Zhao Hongtao (Centre for Chinese Studies, Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome) and Emanuele Raini (University “L’Orientale”, Naples), is preceded by an essay by Dr. Eugenio Menegon (Boston University) that gives a full explanation of the entire structure and contents of the Archives pertaining to the China missions and sketches the activity of Propaganda Fide missionaries in China up to the early 19th century. The Chinese documents catalogued here open a window on the daily life of the Chinese Christian communities and their pastors, and the reaction of Chinese society to Catholic activities. Read together with the letters and reports sent from Asia in European languages to accompany them, they offer a corrective to a Rome-centered vision of the missions.