Diego de Pantoja was born in April 1571 in Valdemoro (Madrid). This Jesuit, who died in Macao in 1618, is one of the great figures in the history of our nation, as well as one of the most unknown. On the 450th anniversary of his birth, the Diocese of Getafe, where his birthplace is located today, remembers this distinguished religious who became the first Westerner to converse with the powerful emperor of China.
His Jesuit vocation led him to request to leave for the missions that the Society had in Asia. First assigned to Japan, he ended up in the first Jesuit missions in China. Together with the well-known Matteo Ricci, SJ, he developed a whole system of cultural dialogue to bring the Christian faith closer to the millenary Chinese civilization.
This Jesuit is a model of a man of faith capable of dialoguing with all possible cultural forms.
Jesús Folgado. Episcopal Delegate for Culture of the Diocese of Getafe
He was the first Westerner to enter the Forbidden City in Beijing and talk with the Emperor. There he showed him Western scientific knowledge, especially in mathematics, astronomy and music. He got the Emperor himself to give him a plot of land to bury his master Ricci, which was considered a de facto recognition of his work and a permission to announce the Catholic faith.
Diego Pantoja in China
His worth became evident when last 2018 the government of the People's Republic of China welcomed the Cervantes Institute's proposal to celebrate the "Diego de Pantoja Year". The great Asian nation recognized all the scientific and cultural work that this man had done together with his Jesuit companions.
Pantoja's arrival at the imperial court of Beijing thus becomes a current reference of how faith should be a promoter of human development in its multiple variants. The figure of this Jesuit is a model of the man of faith who is capable of dialoguing with all possible cultural forms to show the truth of the resurrection, even if these forms are apparently very distant from our own.
In addition to preaching the faith, we owe it to Diego de Pantoja to be the first great ambassador of China throughout Europe with various writings in which he described the customs of the Asian country. In doing so, he highlighted the value of this nation, freeing it from the existing clichés. In addition to this, he wrote various scientific and religious works in the Chinese of the time, which he used to promote the scientific development of the Asian empire and for catechization. Therefore, we can affirm that he was undoubtedly the first great bridge between China and the West.
Celebrations in the Diocese of Getafe
The Diocese of Getafe, through its Delegation for Culture, wants to make this admirable Jesuit known through various initiatives throughout this academic year. We would like to recommend the book Jesuit Diego de Pantoja (1571-1618) in the Forbidden City of Beijingby Wenceslao Soto (Xerión, Aranjuez, 2021) -with a prologue by the Bishop of Getafe- as a pleasant and rigorous resource to get to know his figure and his link with Valdemoro.
Some of the initiatives to be developed by the Diocese are:
May 5, 20:00 h.: Virtual Academic Meeting "Diego de Pantoja, SJ, and the relations between China and Latin America".
It aims to be an area of scientific dialogue in which the figure of Pantoja and his social and cultural context will be shown. To this end, a historical retrospective will be made on the relations between the Asian nation and all the Ibero-American countries, with a special emphasis on Spain. The speakers are specialists from various Spanish and European academic centers. After their brief presentations, there will be ample time for dialogue and scientific debate. To participate, please write to the following e-mail address: [email protected]
May 29, 17.00 h. -Parroquia de la Asunción (Valdemoro)-.
Funeral in Chinese with the Chinese Catholic community present in Madrid. This was followed by a conference given in Chinese by Prof. Ignacio Ramos of the Pontifical University of Comillas.
May 31, 7:00 p.m. -Parroquia de la Asunción (Valdemoro)-.
Funeral in Spanish. It will be followed by an informative lecture by Br. Wenceslao Soto, SJ, of the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu and biographer of Diego de Pantoja.
Episcopal Delegate for Culture of the Diocese of Getafe
