Taiwan

Fr George Gerald “Jerry” Martinson SJ died on May 31 in Taiwan, 50 years after he first arrived in 1967 from the California Jesuit Province.  At the age of 25, he was sent to Taiwan and began working at the Jesuit-run Kuangchi Program Service (KPS).  He became a renowned television producer and host, known to many in Taiwan and China as Uncle Jerry, his screen name in an English teaching television programme he hosted.

In celebration of his life spent evangelising through television and film, here are five things for which Fr Martinson is most remembered.

Pope Francis is at the centre of a new national television series that began airing in Taiwan on April 16. Entitled “Oh My God – Hello Pope!”, it was developed by Jesuit-run Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) which believes this is the first weekly TV series in Asia about the pope.

The National Palace Museum in Taiwan has opened a major exhibition to celebrate its 90th anniversary and the extraordinary work of a Jesuit in China.  The exhibition, which opened on October 6 and will last until January next year, is dedicated to Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧), a Jesuit brother from Milan who lived for 51 years in the Forbidden City after his arrival in China 300 years ago.