ASIA/CHINA - The Bishop of Nan Jing, with a group of priests and faithful, in the pastoral exchange visit in the Korean diocese of Daejeon

Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - The formation of vocations, evangelization and social services, in the footsteps of the Holy Martyrs in Korea, highly regarded by the local Church in Daejeon, South Korea, have strongly impressed Archbishop Lu Xin Ping, Bishop of the Chinese diocese of Nan Jing (Nanjing), the priests and the faithful, who went on the pastoral exchange visit in Korea from June 13 to 18.
According to what was said to Fides by Faith in He Bei, seven priests and two lay people of Nan Jing accompanied Mgr. Lu on this visit, responding to the invitation of the diocese of Daejeon. They were welcomed with great fellowship and friendship from the Bishop of the diocese, Mgr. Lazarus You Heung-sik, the Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr. Augustinus Kim Jong Soo, and priests, religious men and women and the faithful in Daejeon. During their stay they went on a pilgrimage to the Shrine and to the house of St. Andrea Kim Dai Kon (or Kim Tae Gon, 1821-1846), martyred priest, they visited the Bishop's Palace, the seminary, the hospital, the home of the elderly, the center of the disabled, the publishing house and print shop, training center , as well as exchanging their impressions and experiences directly with the faithful.
Mgr. Lu underlined: "The visit has given me great inspiration. Because there is a certain similarity between the two dioceses: both are economically well-developed cities, most of the faithful are wealthy, there is a large influx of rural youth to cities, the faithful ageing increases in the rural part .... So their experience will help us a lot. For example, strengthening the pastoral visit of the priests and faithful to the families of the rural area, helping young immigrants to approach the Church, giving the example of life on behalf of the priests and religious men and women, enhancing the basic ecclesial communities ... but above all emphasizing the spirit of the Holy Martyrs, following their footsteps, to give a living witness to society".
According to the 2011 Pontifical Yearbook, the diocese has 262,561 Catholics in Daejeon out of 3,512,762 inhabitants, with 116 parishes and 6 churches, 244 priests, 85 religious, 524 religious, 228 seminarians, 26 educational institutes, 44 charity institutes.
According to Guide to the Catholic Church in China 2008, the diocese of Nan Jing has more than 100 thousand faithful, 11 parishes and thirty churches, about twenty priests, forty religious women, a home for the elderly and other social services. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 06/25/2011)