Zbigniew Wesołowski S.V.D.:

Online Lecture in Polish: 

“Intelektualny apostolat Instytutu Monumenta Serica: 90 lat istnienia sinologicznego czasopisma Monumenta Serica” (The Intellectual Apostolate of the Monumenta Serica Institute: On 90 Years of the Sinological Journal Monumenta Serica) delivered by invitation of Fr. Andrzej Danilewicz S.V.D., Chairman of Sinicum – Stowarzyszenie im. Michała Boyma SJ (Sinicum – Michał Boym S.J. Association) in Sulejówek (nearby Warsaw, Poland) at the General Meeting of this association on 23 May 2025.

Abstract

The year 2025 marks not only the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini: S.V.D.), but also the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the Sinological journal Monumenta Serica and the Monumenta Serica Institute. This makes a welcome opportunity to share information about our journal and institute with a wider circle of different groups of people. On 23 May, Fr. Wesołowski presented an online lecture at the General Meeting of the Sinicum – Michał Boym S.J. Association. 

The Sinicum was formed by a group of Polish Catholics who for several years have been involved in various ways in the work for the Church in China, e.g., by hosting seminarians and sisters in Poland and also through publishing work. After the formal foundation of the association, it has held annual meetings for more than 10 years now in Sulejówek, near Warsaw. The patron of this association is Michał Piotr Boym (Chinese name: Bu Mige卜彌格, 1612–1659), a Polish Jesuit missionary to China as well as a scientist and explorer.

The presentation of Fr. Wesołowski S.V.D. built up on his contribution in Chinese at a conference in Valencia (Spain) on 26 September 2024 and in Polish at the missiological conference in Warsaw (Poland) on 27 February 2025 and offered insights into the sometimes turbulent history of the Monumenta Serica Institute. To date, over 40 Sinologists from all over the world and 22 missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, most of them also being academically trained Sinologists, have participated directly or indirectly in the work and mission of Monumenta Serica and its institute.