"… Dass diese Mission eine der blühendsten des Ostens werde…" P. Alexander de Rhodes (1593–1660) und die frühe Jesuitenmission in Vietnam by Klaus Schatz (review)

This historical study by Klaus Schatz, Professor emeritus of Church History at the Jesuit university Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Germany, is a valuable addition to the growing literature on Christian, and more specifically, Jesuit missions in Vietnam in the seventeenth century. The focus of Schatz's research is the French Jesuit Alexandre de Rhodes (1593–1660).

The book, which is essentially a biography of de Rhodes and his missionary activities in Vietnam, is divided into ten sections/chapters, albeit not numbered as such, and an appendix. The first chapter gives, as the context of de Rhodes' missionary work, a brief overview of Jesuit missions, especially in Asia, under the Portuguese padroado until 1615. Schatz highlights the importance of the Jesuit missionary method, then known as accommodation, and now widely referred to as "inculturation," to use the expression of the Superior General Pedro Arrupe. As is well known, this method was propounded by the Visitor Alessandro Valignano, and was implemented in Japan, China (especially by Matteo Ricci), in India (by Roberto de Nobili), and in Vietnam (by de Rhodes).

The rest of the book narrates in chronological order de Rhodes' life and work. The chapter "Von Avignon zu Macao" details de Rhodes' origins, family, education at the Jesuit school in Avignon, entry into the Society of Jesus and theological formation in Rome, his missionary voyage to Macao, and his first missionary work in Goa, India. The next chapter provides a contextual overview of the geographical, political, and religious background of what is now known as Vietnam, which was then divided into Tonkin (north) and Cochinchina (south), and a brief history of Jesuit missions in Vietnam before de Rhodes' arrival in Cochinchina in 1624. Next, Schatz gives a detailed account of de Rhodes' first mission in Cochinchina (1624–26), mission in Tonkin (1627–30), ten-year stay in Macao after his expulsion from Tonkin (1630–40), and second mission in Cochinchina (1640–45).

The next chapter briefly interrupts the historical narrative to highlight de Rhodes' contributions to Catholic missions in Vietnam, especially his book Cathechismus, his founding of the society of catechists, and his improvement of the Romanized script of the Vietnamese language.

The last two chapters resume the narrative, first of Rhodes' return to and stay in Rome (1645–52) and his efforts to establish the hierarchy in Vietnam, his stay in France (1652–54) and his success in having two priests of the recently founded Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris consecrated bishops and sent to Vietnam, and finally, his mission and death in Isfahan, Iran (1655–60). The book concludes with an appendix containing de Rhodes' letter to Macarenhas (1625), the Lord Trinh Trang's letter to the Jesuit superiors in Macao (1627), and a list of important Jesuit missionaries in Vietnam.

Schatz's book is the best biography, at least in the German language, of Alexandre de Rhodes' life and work. His account is comprehensive and clear, and attractively written, highlighting de Rhodes' main and most significant achievements, so that readers will not get lost in a forest of historical details. His use of Vietnamese sources is also very helpful. For a more extensive analysis of de Rhodes's literary and theological ideas and accomplishments, other works will need to be consulted. But if one looks for a readable biography of de Rhodes, Klaus Schatz's book can hardly be improved.