China, Catholic Church -- China, Age of Discovery, Jesuits, Catholic Church in China 

Since the early centuries of Christianity the rout to Cathay has held as great a lure for missionaries as for merchants. Singly and in bands they have penetrated into the Walled Kingdom, impressing upon it the stamp of Christianity and leaving behind a record of heroic endeavor. Dom Columba Cary-Elwes has devoted twenty-five years to an exploration of their history, tracing it from its source - not in St. Thomas the Apostle as legend has it - but in the 7th century Nestorians up to modern times.

The medieval Franciscans, hurrying across the Asian plain, were the first from Western Christendom to leave a strong impress; then came the brilliant "Jesuit age," ending disastrously in the Rites controversy and the suppression of the Society. The Lazarists, who took their place in the palace of Peking, just barely held the field until the 19th century when, following the opium war, China opened its doors to a flood of missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant. Their work flourished until it was swept away during the Communist ascendancy of the past decade.

But Dom Cary-Elwes has compiled no mere chronicle of comings and goings. His comprehensive and penetrating survey examines political tensions and individual limitations that have affected mission work. He describes in more detail the great figures such as Matteo Ricci, John of Moontecorvino, Vincent Lebbe. He reveals the tragic story of present-day persecution and puts his finger on many problems that face the missionary of the future all over the world. Above all he points out the necessity of adopting a world view and recognizing that Christianity cannot be identified with western civilization. Illustrated; with index, bibliography and appendices.

Taken from the inside flaps.

The Author

Dom Columba Cary-Elwes, OSB, prior of the new Benedictine priory and school in St. Louis, Missouri, was born in London in 1903. Educated first by the Jesuits in Brussels, then at Ampleforth College, he took his MA at Oxford and his theology under the famous Dominicans, Bede Jarrett and Hugh Pope. With such a brilliant educational background, it was inevitable that Dom Columba on his return to Ampleforth should not only make a name for himself as a teacher, but be able, in the tradition of the Benedictine Order of which he is a member, to devote himself to writing and study. His friendship with Arnold Toynbee encouraged him greatly in his preparation for China and the Cross, and Professor Toynbee also contributed a preface to an earlier book, Law, Liberty and Love. Dom Cary-Elwes has also written The Beginning of Goodness, The Sheepfold and the Shepherd and has edited Ampleforth and Its Origins. He is a contributor to Blackfriars, The Dublin Review and the BBC weekly The Listener, among other publications.

Taken from the back cover.