How did Christianity reach China? This documentary from the Diocese of Getafe, Spain, titled “Diego de Pantoja, bridge between East and West,” tells the story. This Jesuit, born in the Spanish town of Valdemoro, went where famed missionary St. Francis Xavier could not.
BP. GINÉS GARCÍA BELTRÁN
Diocese of Getafe
He went a great distance to proclaim Jesus Christ and reached as far as China. To the wall of Christianity, of evangelization, which has always been China. And he enters this world with the sole purpose of proclaiming the Gospel. But doing so by always putting put his ear and heart in those he evangelized, and this is a great lesson for us from Diego de Pantoja.
As the Bishop of Getafe, Diego de Pantoja followed the evangelizing tradition of the Jesuits of his time. He mingled with the local culture and spoke to them about God without fear or hesitation.
BP. GINÉS GARCÍA BELTRÁN
Bishop, Diocese of Getafe
Diego de Pantoja was a Spanish-style evangelizer.
What does this mean? He expressed himself openly with emotion, with force.
All true evangelization must be cultural. Because the Gospel has its own inner dynamism that creates culture wherever it goes. That is to say, it not only changes the heart, but with the heart it also changes the structures of the world, the culture.
Diego de Pantoja was a true Renaissance man. His talents were not limited to a pen or sciences. He also played the clavichord, a special type of keyboard, masterfully. It was this that got him into Beijing's Forbidden City. Along with clocks, he gave one to the emperor as a gift, and the emperor wanted to learn how to play it.
JESUS FOLGADO
Director of the documentary, Diocese of Getafe
The emperor was enthusiastic about the clocks and the clavichord and asked Diego de Pantoja to teach those in his court to play it and to arrange the clocks. This opened the door for Pantoja to evangelize and for the emperor himself to allow evangelization in China.
That missionary announcement, the announcement of the risen Christ by Pantoja, led to a scientific explosion in China. So much so that even the government of the People's Republic of China recognizes him as one of the fathers of science.
Diego de Pantoja is someone that until now had been unknown to many. But the creators of the documentary are confident that his unique story will soon be known around the world.
RM
TRANS: OG
