Celso Costantini is the first person to dispatched and reside in China as the apostolic delegate. As the apostolic delegate, his activity in China can largely be divided into two parts: one, to remove Chinese Catholicism from French religious custody and bringing under direct control of the Vatican, and, two, to start the naturalization of Chinese Catholicism. Of course, these were results of his personal efforts, but they can also be thought of as the result of Vatican’s missionary policy changes of the time in a broader sense. Furthermore, his activism can be thought of as the result of political situations and changes within Vatican at the time. <BR> For 19 centuries, Catholicism has made many negative impacts in China, and in the 20th century, “self-reflection” or “introspection” theory was brought up, and people such as Ying Lian-Zhi and Ma Xiang-bo came about. Foreign missionaries started to change as well. Vincent Lebbe, a Belgian missionary and a representative of other missionaries who changed, promoted the self-reliance of Chinese church, and emphasized social improvements and anti-Japanese movements. Such endless request for social changes from the Catholics in China sparked the Vatican’s interest, and became the driving force of Catholic Church’s naturalization in China. <BR> Costantini tried to follow the adaptationism missionary methods of Ming-Qing Dynasty era’s Jesuit missionaries as a model. Also, he thought that the traditional cultures of each country and ethnicity can express the fundamental spirit of all Catholic faiths. Another achievement in Costantini’s cultural communication between the West and the East is that he introduced the Chinese arts and architecture to Catholic churches. He actually invited a Chinese painter for cooperation to introduce Chinese painting to the Church. Also, he invited a Benedictine artist to promote China’s architectural art, had him research Chinese architecture, and put him in charge of Catholic buildings architecture. This can be seen as the start of Chinese architectural art in the Church. He claimed that any art of any culture can be used to express Catholic faiths, and further claimed that the Oriental art was very fitting to express the Catholic beliefs.

주제어 : 코스탄티니, 교황사절, 중국천주교, 소통, 토착화