Fr Louis Gendron, in his province letter dated October 24, wrote, “Today I was in Beijing for a meeting of the Board of Directors of The Beijing Center, and I am transiting in Macau on my way to Taipei, where we have a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Fu Jen University. I bring with me two new books published by Fr Ron Anton and his collaborators at the Historical Archives of Beijing.
One is a fully documented book on the second Jesuit cemetery of Beijing: pictures of all the steles, transcription of the texts, and a detailed introduction. The second book, published at only 500 copies, reproduces twelve paintings of Brother Castiglione, who had been asked by the emperor to paint battles in West China. Also reproduced are poems written by the emperor to accompany the paintings, as well as the official history of these battles as recorded in the archives of the Forbidden City. The meeting of the Directors of The Beijing Center discussed substantial issues, as we are going to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Center and are making plans for future development. For instance, we will most probably start a branch at Yunnan University, focused on environmental issues, a very hot topic these days. The president of the Jesuit Conference of our Assistancy, Fr Adolfo Nicolas, and our sinologist, Fr Nicholas Standaert, are also Directors of The Beijing Center and they were present at the meeting. Afterwards, the three of us had a common feeling: this was a very productive meeting, and an important reason was the great quality of our lay directors. Three of them have lived in Beijing for many years, they are chief executives of big multinationals, and they share our faith. I am deeply impressed by the generosity of these laypersons who volunteer their time and their expertise to help us run a first-class teaching and research institution. I am touched by their great love for the Society and their desire to support our mission. I am also impressed by the ability of Fr. Anton to invite these men to join our mission.”