ASIA/CHINA-Five years of the "House of the Faithful", where the laity immigrants cultivate their faith in order to evangelize others

Ning Bo (Agenzia Fides) – To provide a reference point to the faithful lay people from other places where one can live the life of faith, develop the sense of belonging to the Church and therefore to be able to evangelize others: these are the main reasons of the foundation, which took place on June 1, 2007, of the "House of the Faithful" of the parish of Xu Shan Ci Xi, Diocese of Ning Bo, in Zhe Jiang province. According to information gathered by Fides, in these five years the "House" has welcomed Catholic immigrant workers from many parts of China, helping them "to live the Love of God, to be witnesses of faith in their workplace", as confirmed by the priest in charge of the House during the festival on June 2 for the 5 years of the foundation. Also according to the priest, the parish of Xu Shan had only 300 Catholics, but many workers were Catholic immigrant workers, since it is not a highly developed industrial area. So the parish decided to accept these faithful so that they would not lose their faith, and to prepare them to evangelize non-Catholics. This is how the "House of the Faithful" was born, which opened on June 1, 2007. The study and sharing of the weekend, the charity visits, community activities are the main activities. In its first year of pastoral work, 13 immigrant workers were baptized. During the Pauline Year, a pilgrimage, the study of the Letters of the Apostle was organized in order to "make Christ known to all." Today, this house has become the common home of local Catholics and non. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 05/06/2012)