Confucian Catholicism

"In the 16th and 17th centuries, at the time when the West was torn by cruel wars between Catholics and Protestants, Jesuits.... were arguing from the farthest East that a man could be both Catholic and Confucian," reminds Francesco Sisci — Deeper unity lurks in Confucian embrace. Mr. Sisci writes:

They were suggesting a path of communion with the Protestants, but were also brooding on something that was exotically different from the European and scholastic tradition, elaborating on the finest differences. The deeper unity of man, suggested in their approach, was a leap of reason for the West that ended only temporarily in the 18th century, when they were ordered to leave China.

The author suggests that "the West need[s] Confucius as much as China d[oes]," referring to "a spiritual need of all men trying not to be separated from one another through tiny and ultimately insignificant cultural distinctions."

Hinting at "a path already envisioned by the Jesuits centuries ago when they tried to bring Catholicism and Confucianism together and failed because some Western cardinals thought their own tradition was being endangered," Mr. Sisci suggests, "In a way, Confucius was a vessel and Christianity the content, they argued, as early Christianity absorbed Greek thought in its early stages, and this helped the understanding and spread of the new religion."