Diego de Pantoja, SJ: A bridge between China and the West

On May 28, 2024, at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome, the documentary “Diego de Pantoja, SJ: A bridge between China and the West” was presented. Presented by Fr. Federico Lombardi, President of the Joseph Ratzinger Vatican Foundation Benedict XVI, was accompanied by Fr. Antoine Kerhuel, Secretary of the Society of Jesus, Manuela Mendonça, President of the Portuguese Academy of History, Fr. Casey Beaumier, director of the Institute of Jesuit Higher Studies, and the director of the documentary, Fr. Jesús Folgado, being moderated by Eva Fernández from COPE.

Directed by Jesús Folgado García (Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies of Boston College), the documentary aims to bring the figure of the Jesuit missionary, scientist and writer Diego de Pantoja (1571, Valdemoro -Spain-/ 1618, Macao -People's Republic of China-) closer to the Chinese public. His importance is such in China that the government of the People's Republic of China dedicated 2018 as "Diego de Pantoja Year" in recognition of the enormous work he did for Chinese culture.

Pope Francis has joined the documentary by sending a letter to the director of the documentary to be included in it. In the letter he describes Diego de Pantoja, SJ, as "Ambassador of Chinese culture throughout the West".

The documentary, originally titled Diego de Pantoja, SJ: A bridge between China and the West, has been edited by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College in Mandarin with English subtitles. The Diocese of Getafe (Spain) and the Academia Portuguesa da História have collaborated with it. Professors from Boston College, the Academia Portuguesa da História, the Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation (Holy See), the Archivum Romanun Societatis Iesu (Italy), the Jilin University (People's Republic of China), the Complutense University of Madrid, the Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain) and the Autonomous University of Madrid have participated in the project.

The project has benefited from the collaboration of the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University (United States), the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University (Peru), the Archivum Romanun Societis Iesu, the Spanish Institute of Ecclesiastical History (Italy), the Antezana Foundation (Spain), the Archive of Spain of the Society of Jesus, the University of Alcalá (Spain), the University of Alcalá (Spain), the University of Alcalá de Henares (Spain), the University of Alcalá (Spain) and the University of Alcalá (Spain), the University of Alcalá (Spain), the Cervantes Birthplace Museum (Madrid, Spain), the Naval Museum (Ministry of Defence, Government of Spain), the Museum of America (Ministry of Culture, Government of Spain), the Comillas Pontifical University (Spain) and the San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University (Spain). The soundtrack corresponds to the work "El Clave del emperador" by the group "Todos los Tonos y Ayres".

The full documentary is available below:

Several media have echoed the event, such as COPE or Alfa y Omega. In addition, the Society of Jesus has created a website to publicise the Spanish missionary and his story.

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