ASIA/CHINA - After the new episcopal appointments, pastoral life returns to normal in many Chinese dioceses

Friday, 27 September 2024 priests vocations spirituality bishops local churches

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Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - The proliferation of initiatives in which Chinese priests walk their spiritual journey together is an eloquent sign of a new normality in pastoral and spiritual life in many dioceses, following the ordination of bishops appointed according to the procedures of the Provisional Agreement in force between the Holy See and the Chinese government. The example of the dioceses of Henan Province is a clear example of this return to normality in the pastoral life of Chinese Catholic communities.
According to information received by Fides, about fifty priests from the four dioceses (Zhengzhou, Anyang, Xinxiang and Zhumadian) of Henan Province (with Zhengzhou as the capital) took part in the spiritual retreat held for a week in September between the liturgical feast of the Nativity of Mary and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Bishop Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng, appointed by Pope Francis on December 16, 2023 and consecrated on January 25, 2024, and Joseph Zhang Yinlin, Bishop of the Diocese of Anyang, consecrated with a papal mandate in 2015, accompanied the retreat under the direction of Fr. John Baptist Zhang, founder of the charitable institution and church information organization "Xinde" in Hebei Province.
In an atmosphere of exchange and community, the priests prayed and meditated together on biblical and missionary themes and the teaching of the Church. In this context, the priests were also able to exchange their experiences as pastors of grassroots communities.
After the resumption of church life in the late 1970s, the Diocese of Zhengzhou no longer had bishops, only diocesan administrators. The consecration and installation of a new bishop in communion with the Bishop of Rome, more than seventy years after the expulsion of his predecessor, was an objective sign of the restoration of normality to ecclesial life and diocesan community, and promoted a missionary flourishing.
In recent months, Bishop Thaddeus Wang has visited the parishes of his diocese and reorganized the diocesan structure with various commissions according to pastoral needs. The bishop focuses great importance on communion and reconciliation, as well as the spiritual growth of priests and lay people.
In September, similar spiritual retreats for priests and lay people dedicated to the priestly vocation and the personal encounter with Jesus were also held in the dioceses of Weinan, Hanzhou (Shaanxi province) and the diocese of Beijing. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 27/9/2024)