The priest, who was almost seventy years old, was named Fernandez Moreno. After seeing Yang Jing and Gege walking into the church arm in arm, he first enthusiastically introduced the church to the couple, and then led them to another room outside the church.
What surprised Yang Jing and Gege was that this seemingly small church actually had a history of more than 250 years, even older than the city itself.
But think about when the Spanish invaded South America, it was the missionaries who led the way, and the soldiers were even slower than the missionaries.
This situation is very common in South American countries. The oldest buildings in many cities are mostly Catholic churches, and these cities even developed around Catholic churches.
Ita is not very large, and as a satellite town of Asuncion, it is very likely that this city developed based on this seemingly inconspicuous Catholic church.
After exiting the side door of the church, there is another building only ten meters away from the church. This kind of building is mostly prepared for priests and other church staff. It is usually a place for priests to rest. Of course, it also stores some items that cannot be placed in the church.
The house was not small in size, only slightly smaller than the church. Father Moreno took out a bunch of keys, unlocked the secret lock on the door, and led Yang Jing and his wife into the house.
The house was very tidy, with rows of shelves filled with all kinds of items, including crosses, imitation holy grails, Bibles, porcelain, metal products, etc., with a wide variety of items.
"These things were donated to the church by local believers. They are their intention to worship God. The church will preserve these items very well. The oldest of these items can even be traced back to the middle of the eighteenth century, when the church was just built. Look at this vase from China. It was donated by a Spanish general stationed in Paraguay at that time. At that time, Ita was just a place not much bigger than a village."
"Look at this silver cross. It was donated to the church by Francia, the great dictator after Paraguay's independence. And this silver statue of the Virgin Mary was donated to the church by Carlos Antonio Lopez, the first president of Paraguay; and this..."
Accompanied by Father Moreno's slightly proud tone, Yang Jing felt as if he had walked into a museum.
None of these things are very valuable, but when added together they are enough to compose a history of Ita, or even the history of the entire Paraguay, which can be clearly seen in these donated items.
These things that can be placed on the front shelf and occupy a separate layer are obviously donated by famous people in Paraguayan history. The more things are on the shelves, the more things there are. When you reach the last few shelves, the shelves are simply filled with various boxes. Needless to say, the boxes are filled with donated items, but most of the donors are ordinary people.
Father Moreno took out his reading glasses and put them on. He searched on the second-to-last shelf for a while, then pointed to a rattan box on the bottom shelf and said, "This is what Mr. Schroeder donated that year. It's just that we have limited space here, so many people's donated items can only be placed in boxes."
Yang Jing smiled and shook his head, indicating that it was okay, then he stepped forward and with a little effort, he pulled the slightly heavy box out from the shelf.
After opening the box on a table, Yang Jing saw what was inside.
There were quite a few things, but most of them were small items, such as silver crosses, statues of the Virgin Mary, statues of Catholics, and some other silver products. Of course, there were also several books that looked very old, mostly Bibles.
Most of these things are made of silver, and if they were put in half a century ago, their value would be quite good. Of course, Martin Baumann was able to donate these things back then, and he must have donated a lot of checks or cash.
Because the church is a non-profit organization, all operations, including water, electricity, gas, building repairs, and the living expenses of clergy, all rely on donations from church members. In addition to donating some items, church members also donate money, which is the key to whether a church can continue.
This church has been favored by so many celebrities and has received many donations. I believe that it has received a lot of donations. The reason why Martin Baumann's donations can be kept here is that he must have donated a lot of money. Otherwise, these things he donated would have been sold by the church for money.
"Can I see these things?" Yang Jing asked Father Moreno.
Father Moreno nodded and said, "Okay, but you have to be careful. These things are more than half a century old, and there are not many of us here. We don't have the energy to maintain these items donated by the parishioners."
Yang Jing nodded. He certainly understood the other meaning in the priest's words - take a good look. If you think it's okay, you can take these things back. We don't have many people and space here, so we can't put so many things in. Of course, you'd better take some storage fees, just as an offering to God...
This kind of thing is very common in churches abroad. Many church members donated some items to the church a long time ago, but some of these items may be of great commemorative significance to their descendants, so the descendants of these church members will spend money to "redeem" these things...
Yang Jing carefully took out these things one by one, looked at them carefully for about ten minutes, and finally put all the items back into the box.
"Father Moreno, I think these items left by Mr. Schroeder are of great commemorative significance to my family, so I want to take them back. Of course, in order to show that the church has preserved these items for a long time, I will donate 50,000 US dollars to the church. What do you think?"
Hearing Yang Jing's words, Father Moreno showed a happy smile on his face, "God will bless you!"
That's a promise.
In fact, although most of these things are silver products and are more than half a century old, their total value is estimated to be only more than 10,000 US dollars. Yang Jing "bought" them back for 50,000 US dollars. Unless Father Moreno is stupid, he will definitely not refuse.
After Yang Jing was escorted out of the church with the big box by Father Moreno, Gege asked in a low voice: "Yang Jing, are there any clues in these things?"
"It's hard to say right now, but there's a notebook in here that Martin Baumann left behind. Maybe we can find some clues in it, but it will take time."
"Then I'll help you find it when we get back! I know Spanish..."
Yang Jing said with a smile: "But Martin Baumann is a German..."
The princess was very embarrassed.
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