ASIA/CHINA - Bishop Zhen Xuebin to seminarians: we are called to bear witness to the Word of God with our lives

Wednesday, 11 March 2026 local churches seminarians seminaries

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2026-03-11
Bishop Zhen Xuebin to seminarians: we are called to bear witness to the Word of God with our lives

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Beijing (Agenzia Fides) – Bearing witness to the Word of God with our lives. This is the invitation that Matthew Zhen Xuebin, Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Beijing, addressed to seminarians at the beginning of the second semester of the 2025/2026 Academic Year of the Seminary, inaugurated after the Lunar New Year holiday.
During the Eucharistic liturgy, celebrated in the Seminary chapel, Bishop Zhen also conferred the ministry of lector on the second-year theology seminarians.
In his homily, the Coadjutor Bishop of Beijing called on everyone (seminarians and teachers) to consider three priorities: strengthening faith, safeguarding vocation and carrying the Word of God in their hearts. The Word of Mount Tabor, he said, must always resonate in the ears of seminarians, so that they may live and bear witness to the gift of faith amid the constraints and limitations of earthly life, without shying away from contact with what is not pure, but asking Jesus to illuminate the darkness of life with his light.
Bishop Zhen recommended to the seminarians who received the ministry of lector that they bear witness to the Word of God with their lives, becoming ‘living books’ that glorify God and build up the Church.
Before the start of the new academic semester, the seminarians returned from their Chinese New Year holiday and participated in a four-day spiritual retreat from 24 to 27 February, dedicated to the theme ‘Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch’ (Lk 5:1-11). On the evening of February 28, the Seminary family gathered together again. The faculty shared the academic program with the students, in light of the exhortation to ‘put out into deep water’ in following the Word of God.

On March 8, the third Sunday of Lent, the Seminary of Sichuan Province inaugurated the academic semester with the sharing of pastoral experiences lived by seminarians in their respective parishes (such as visits and assistance to the faithful in need, and involvement in various parish activities) and reflections matured during the Chinese New Year holiday period. Father Tong Hengjiu, the vice-rector, praised the students' commitment and dedication to integrating theoretical learning with practical involvement in pastoral activities devoted to proclaiming the Gospel. (Agenzia Fides, 11/3/2026)