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REV. EDWARD J. MALATESTA,
S.J. 1932-1998  Father Edward J. Malatesta, S.J., founding director of the Ricci Institute
for Chinese-Western Cultural History at the University of San Francisco,
internationally known biblical scholar and historian of the Church and
Jesuits in China, died suddenly on January 27, 1998 in Hong Kong. Father
Malatesta, 65, died shortly after his 32nd trip to Asia. Father Malatesta, a Jesuit for 50 years, gained renown first as a biblical scholar. From 1966 to 1977, he was a professor of biblical spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, specializing in the Letters of St. John. In the late ‘70s, Father Malatesta made a mid-life career change, with permission from then Superior General Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J. He allowed Father Malatesta to pursue a life-long ambition—to conduct research on the Jesuits and the Church in China—on one condition: Father Malatesta had to learn Mandarin in two years. An aide to Father Arrupe is said to have remarked: "That's a bet you will lose." Father Ed came out the winner. After intensive language study in California, China and Taiwan, Father Malatesta returned to the United States, where he worked from 1982 to 1984 on the China Jesuit History Project in Los Gatos with Father Francis Rouleau, S.J. In 1984, Father Malatesta co-founded The Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at USF with the California Province of the Society of Jesus. The Institute became part of USF's Center for the Pacific Rim in 1988 and was named after Father Matteo Ricci 1552-1610, pioneer Italian Jesuit missionary to China, a few years later. Over the years, the institute became known for its extensive Chinese library collection, named after senior research fellow Father Albert Chan, S.J., who collected the books for the Society of Jesus. The library is ranked as one of the best Chinese language collections in North America. The Institute also was known for the 5,000-volume San Francisco-Shanghai Friendship Library of the City of San Francisco, which it housed for the city until 1996, its on-line computer catalog, its participation in or sponsorship of international symposia and its database on the history of Christianity in China. Father Malatesta was born May 31, 1932, in Patterson, N.J., He entered the Society of Jesus on Aug. 14, 1948, at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Los Gatos after graduation from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose. On Sept. 6, 1961, he was ordained a priest at St.-leu d'esserent-sur l'Oise in France. He took his final vows as a Jesuit on Aug. 8, 1965, at Alma College in Los Gatos. He received his licentiate in 1965 and a doctorate in Scripture in 1975 from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome; a master's in philosophy from Gonzaga University in 1955, and a bachelor's in Latin and Greek from Santa Clara University in 1953. He also received his licentiate in theology from Les Fontaines, Chantilly, France, and diplomas in biblical languages from the Institut Catholique in Paris. Father Malatesta taught at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, was director of international tertianship in Berkeley and a frequent guest lecturer at the USF Summer Theology Program. Barbara Bundy, executive director of the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, the Institute's parent body, said of him at the time of his death: "Father Ed touched and enriched many lives in his brief and brilliant life. He had such a grand vision for the encounter between Christianity and culture in his beloved China - and he was always involved in literally dozens of projects at any one time, turning dreams into realities for many people. I treasure most his deep goodness and his indefatigable energy.... I find an almost poetic justice in the fact that Father Malatesta died on Chinese soil. He would have wanted nothing more than to die as he had lived, building one last bridge between China and the West in the spirit of Matteo Ricci, the earlier Jesuit giant who inspired his life work." Adapted from USFnews, Vol. 7, Number 122, February 13, 1998 |
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| USF Ricci Institute 2130 Fulton St, LM280 San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 |
CONTACT US: Tel: (415) 422-6401 Fax: (415) 422-2291 email: ricci@usfca.edu |
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