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Shi Jia Zhuang (Agenzia Fides) - The Forum on Liturgy & Inculturation organized by Faith Institute for Cultural Studies of He Bei, in collaboration with the ten major Seminaries in the Chinese mainland, is taking place in full swing in the city of Shi Jia Zhuang, He Bei capital. According to what was refered to Fides, from November 16 to 18 about eighty among Bishops, priests, religious, lay people and academics, along with leaders of the 10 major continental seminaries, are retracing the last 20 years of formation and development of the Liturgy of the Church and its inculturation in China. Among them there are about thirty experts in liturgy.
In his opening speech, the Honorary President of the Faith Institute For Cultural Studies, the Bishop of the Diocese of Yan An, His Exc. Mgr. J. B Yang Xiao Ting (approved by the Holy See), stressed the multiplicity, inculturation, the pastoral dimension and accessability to all the faithful of the liturgy. The Director of the Institute, don J. B. Zhang, who traced 20 years of the Chinese Catholic community’s progress and effort to adapt to the spirit of II Vatican Council on the liturgy and to be in communion with the universal Church. "Since 1991, when the Continental Catholic community sent its first priest to the Philippines to study Liturgy, to November 15, 2011, 21 priests, plus a religious, all Chinese, have studied abroad – recalled Father Zhang -. They are divided as follows: 7 studied in the U.S., 4 in Italy, 4 in Germany, 3 in the Philippines, 1 in Switzerland, 2 elsewhere. In addition, 1 received his PhD, others are still completing their studies. Eleven are back in their country and teach in Seminaries, 8 of them are attending the Forum".
The Director of the Institute also highlighted some imbalances: the lack of lay people and the presence of a single woman religious in 20 years. "So the statistic in itself is a reminder of the liturgical formation of the laity", he concluded. Secondly, Don Zhang summed up the publication of liturgical books in China, "until November 15, 2011, in the last 20 years as many as 128 liturgical texts have been published in China, divided into eight categories: Missal and ritual of the Sacraments (33 texts), Principles of the Liturgy (27), exegesis (29), dictionaries and liturgical manuals (10), Liturgical Prayers (27), Weekly liturgical spirituality (2 publications), calendars (5) and sacred songs...".
(NZ) (Agenzia Fides 17/11/2011)
