Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - It 'was' a space for study marked by a 'free, open, tolerant, pluralistic, and open minded spirit' offered to young scholars": this was the participants’ comment at the Fourth Forum of Catholic Studies for young Chinese scholars, which was held from 6 to 8 December in Beijing. According to information Fides received, 79 Chinese scholars of religion, in possession of degrees and higher qualifications, took part in the Forum organized by the "Beijing Institute for the Study of Christian Culture" with 64 texts. They looked at some vast theme, inspired by history and current Catholic Chinese issues, such as: "The missionary activity of the Divine Word Missionaries in the late Qing Dynasty (1879 - 1908): the work of evangelization in China by S. Joseph Freinademetz"; "The missionary activities of Western missionaries in the Tibetan area of the Ming and Qing Dynasty (1846 - 1919)"; "Analysis on current social service of the Chinese Catholic Church", "Positive sign of the Catholic value of freedom for the common good"; "Deepening the health service of the Catholic community of He Bei"; "Characteristic and development of Catholic charity work of the Chinese Catholic Church today ".... In addition, participants suggested strengthening a major international academic collaboration for the next Forums, also to have a more "objective and global" vision of the topics covered.
Since 2008, the "Beijing Institute for the Study of Christian Culture," organizes an annual Forum at the beginning of December, gathering an increasingly large presence of leading academics and scholars of Christianity, even of international fame. During the discussion, participants offered a number of useful suggestions for the mission of evangelization in Chinese society. All the texts presented at the Forum are subsequently published in the Journal of Catholic Studies, volume, published periodically by the Institute. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 15/12/2011)
