Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Shi Jia Zhuang (Agenzia Fides) – “The mission of priests today” was the focus of a Cultural Formation Discussion in Taiwan for a group of priests from He Bei, held 20 August to 10 September. The meeting was organised jointly, at the invitation of Fu Ren University in Taiwan, by the Chinese province of Lazzarist missionaries together with the He Bei Institute for Cultural Studies of Faith. The event enabled 13 priests from various dioceses of He Bei province to experience three weeks of sharing and discussion on spiritual, pastoral, missionary and cultural topics with missionaries, priests, women religious and lay Catholics resident in Taiwan.
According to a report sent to Fides, the meeting, the third such event following two previous editions in 2012 and 2013 held in the Unites States, focussed in particular on the mission of priests in the society of today, “because conversion in the Church must start with conversion of priests. The mission of the priest is to share God’s love with people most in need of care”, said relator Fr. Hugh O'Donell, CM. Discussion considered various areas connected with the mission of priests, such as: formation of youth, formation of the family also regarding Christian matrimony; evangelisation as experienced by the Catholic Church in Taiwan, charitable and social work, service and care for elderly and disabled persons, hospital pastoral work, human concern…. The participants visited 7 communities on the Island and also paid a visit to Bishop Martin Su Yao-Wen, Bishop of the diocese of Tai Chung. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 2014/09/16)
