ASIA/CHINA - The parish of St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank Our Lady for her protection and the Lazarist missionaries who brought the Gospel

Wen Zhou (Agenzia Fides) - "Give thanks to Our Lady who protected and ensured us the success of the mission, tribute to the Lazarist missionaries who brought us the Gospel, invoking the Lord for a better future of the Church": these were the themes that marked the solemn celebration that took place in the parish of St. Vincent de Paul, of the diocese of Wen Zhou, in the Zhe Jiang province, yesterday, on September 27, the liturgical feast of the Vincentians founder and the patron of the parish. According to information sent to Fides, more than 600 faithful attended the celebration presided by the diocesan Bishop, His Exc. Mgr. Zhu Wei Fang, and concelebrated by 7 priests. The gift of a basket of roses to the statue of Our Lady opened the function, recalling the 10 years of the building that houses the Marian statue, outside the church. The pastor reminded those present of the 10 years of walking, always under the protection of Our Lady. In his homily Mgr. Zhu said to the faithful: "We have hundreds of churches in the diocese, but this is the only one dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul. I urge you to never forget the contribution of the Lazarist missionaries to the mission of our diocese. In the footsteps of St. Vincent de Paul’s charity, therefore, we live the faith and mission today".
According to Guide to the Catholic Church in China and the Manual of the Catholic Church in China by Faith Press, the Diocese of Wen Zhou, established in 1948 under the name "Yong Jia", consists of about 110 thousand faithful, with 188 churches and chapels . It started the pastoral and missionary activity again in 1978. About twenty priests are involved in the pastoral ministry and evangelization, there are also15 seminarians (8 minor and 7 major). In the diocese a diocesan religious congregation, the Missionaries of St. Theresa was recently founded, on January 8, 1995. Today the congregation consists of 28 religious women (8 professed, 17 novices and postulants, 3 elderly religious). (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 28/09/2011)