Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nan Chong (Agenzia Fides) - The traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom the Cathedral of the Diocese of Nan Chong (province of Si Chuan) is dedicated, has spawned a new association of the faithful: the Association of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the same time, a bronze statue dedicated to the Sacred Heart was consecrated and inaugurated, an initiative made possible by the testimony of the devotion to the Sacred Heart during World Mission Day.
More than 600 faithful attended the official ceremony marking the establishment of the Association, held on 3 November. Today the parish also has a small chapel which enables the faithful to adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus 24 hours a day, taking up the tradition of collective Adoration every first Friday of the month.
Since the 1950s, the faithful of the Diocese of Nan Chong were very devoted to the Sacred Heart and to participate in Adoration the first Friday of each month, some of them walked 60km, beginning the night before.
In a solemn Eucharist, in view of Christmas, the parish priest invited all to follow in the footsteps of those simple faithful “because thanks to the Sacred Heart, our community has been able to survive more than half a century of vicissitudes. Today we have a consolidated faith, and a very devout and religious community. But we must not stop here, because the mission of evangelization awaits us”. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 07/12/2010)
