Friday, July 08, 2011

Welcome to the Macau - China Bulletin - July 2011

Lay missionary mandate for 305 : A sign of the vitality of the Diocese of Liaoning China
About 305 lay missionaries of the Parish of Fu Shun in the Diocese of Liaoning, have received the missionary mandate on the feast of Pentecost, confirming their desire to be faithful to the service of evangelization and the pastoral care during the next two years.
Fushun – Liaoning - China
A certificate of the mandate and the Cross were delivered to the 305 lay people, to carry out its mission in the basic Christian communities. It is a sign of vitality of the Diocese of Liaoning, led by the young Archbishop Paul Pei Junmin.
Archbishop Paul Pei Junmin, 
The Diocese of Liaoning

Evangelisation, pastoral care and Formation are the main priorities of the diocese. On 5 and 6 July, the diocese has organized a seminar on "Current development and future of the Church in China, according to the Ecclesiology of Vatican II" to help priests to know the reality of the Church and the conciliar magisterium.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Graduate seminary of Shijiazhuang - Hebei

The seminary in Shijiazhuang is the largest in China.

On 21 June 26 seminarians graduated from the seminary in Hebei. For the first time parents, relatives and friends of the seminarians were invited to participate in the ceremony.

This year 110 have graduated from seven seminaries in China: 26 from the seminary in Hebei, Four from the seminary in Beijing, 14 from Shanghai, 14 from Shaanxi, Sichuan - 24 seminarians, 19 seminarians from Zhongnan and nine from the seminary at Shenyang.

Monday, July 04, 2011

243 Baptisms at the Cathedral of Tianjin

Tianjin - 130 klms. Beijing ...and just a half hour by train!

The Cathedral Church at Tianjin

After months of preparation, 243 catechumens were baptized on 28 May. The average age of the baptized is 30 years.
The new Christians of Tianjin

Adventures of Fr. Jojo for three weeks in China

It was a journey thousands of miles visiting Beijing, Tianjin and Huangshan, where the Claretian Missionaries worked in China since 1927 until they were expelled in 1950.

Let the pictures speak ...

In Bejing
Jojo in Tiananmen

Fr. Peter Chao in the National Seminary, Beijing
Paco at the Beijing Seminary
Jojo and Friends at the "Great Wall"
Fr. Joseph in Beijing
This was once a Claretian Mission ... Huangshan
Eucharistic Celebration at Huangshan
Fr. Mario with Nicolas ... an old friend of the Claretians
Jojo & Nicolas... He was an Altar Boy, when Claretians were
Serving at Huangshan
Jojo Speaks:
My experience in this journey through the interior of China is that I have been evangelized by the treatment and the generosity of our bishops, priests, religious and laity whom I met in China. I was impressed by their immense hospitality, culture and tolerance. I feel really happy and proud of our Chinese brothers and sisters because through them I experienced the love, peace and joy of Jesus. My prayer is that openness and dialogue bring genuine love, peace and joy for all.

100 years of the Maryknoll missionaries: their first foundation was in China

Fr. Brian Barrons M.M. presiding over the
Eucharistic Celebration at Stanly

Catholics in China's mainland, which was the first foundation of the Maryknoll missionaries abroad, participate with great joy and gratitude to the Lord in the celebration of 100 years of the Society for Foreign Missions of the United States of America, whose members are known just as "the Maryknoll Missionaries" MM (29 June 1911-29 June 2011).
Fr. Luis Ruiz S.J (98) [seated on the right] was a special
guest at the Centenary Celebrations

The Society for Foreign Missions of the United States of America, or Maryknoll MM, is the first American missionary congregation, which was founded by Father James Anthony Walsh (1867-1936) and Fr Thomas Frederick Price (1860-1919) in 1911 in New York, USA, and approved by Propaganda Fide, on June 29 of that year.
From the Eucharistic Celebration
The Maryknoll missionaries arrived in Hong Kong in 1918. Today the community has 25 priests, 3 religious brothers, who have always worked in education, pastoral and missionary field.
Chat time...!
The Maryknoll Missionary Society has more than 30 houses with 550 members, priests and religious, active in Africa, America, Asia, with a house in Rome. The mother house is in New York. In addition to priests and religious, nuns and lay people are also part of the religious family of Maryknoll. - Courtesy: Agenzia Fides, 30 June 2011

Fr. Tony Brennan's 50th Anniversary of Ordination

Fr. Anthony Vincent Brennan, MM
Fr. Tony Brennan is a Maryknoll priest and good friend of the Claretians, ever since our priests began their stay in his parish at Ngau Tau Kok, Hong Kong for their Cantonese classes in the Chinese University in 2007. Earlier Fr. Jojo and now Frs. Ezakias and Jose stay in Christ the Worker Parish at Ngau Tau Kok, where Fr. Tony serves as the Assistant Parish Priest. He is also in-charge of one of the Maryknoll Schools in Hong Kong.
From the Jubilee Celebrations at Ngau Tau Kok:
Fr. Tony cuts the cake
He was ordained a priest June 10, 1961. Fr. Anthony Vincent Brennan was born on March 25, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Patrick and Margaret Doogan Brennan. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, New York in 1952 and entered Maryknoll in September or that same year.Tony was ordained a Maryknoll priest on June 10, 1961.
Fr. Tony with a Memento, presented by the Parishioners
We sincerely thank Fr. Tony for his great support and encouragement he offers us. With his great sense of humour, he brings cheer to all around him. Congratulations and Prayerful wishes, dear Fr. Tony on your Jubilee

The solemnity of Corpus Christi: An opportunity for evangelization

More than 2,000 faithful attended the solemn Eucharistic procession from the parish of Fan Ga Da, of the diocese of Xian Xian (today Cang Zhou), in the province of He Bei.
Faithful carry the statue of Our Lady at the beginning of the
Eucharistic Procession in Hong Kong
His Excellancy. Mgr. Joseph Li Lian Gui, Bishop of the diocese of Xian Xian, presided over the celebration of the Holy Mass in the parish of Zhao Lin An, concelebrated by 12 diocesan priests. Four altars in the four main points of the village were set up, where many of the faithful gathered for the prolonged Eucharistic adoration.
A Scene of the Eucharistic Procession at Pokfulahm Road, Hong Kong

Mgr. Li also led the solemn Eucharistic procession along the whole village. Many non-Christian farmers attended the religious event, which was thus transformed into an opportunity for evangelization.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B. leading the Eucharistic Procession in Hong Kong
The parish of Gao Shan Lu of the Diocese of Liao Ning, dedicated to the Body and Blood of Christ, celebrated on this occasion its first year of life. In fact, the parish church was consecrated and opened just a year ago. During the solemn celebration, the pastor gave the mandate to 19 lay volunteers so "they help priests and religious women to improve the structure of the parish, to promote Eucharistic spirituality of the parishioners with the Eucharistic adoration and the reading of the Word of God, to put into practice evangelism in everyday life through the testimony of love and service".
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B. leading the Eucharistic Procession
In Hong Kong, the Celebration of the Solemnity began with the Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions at 2 pm at the Sacred Heart Canossian College, Pokfulam.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady of the Rosary Church
The Eucharistic Celebration at 3 pm., presided over by His Excellancy Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B. was attended by over 800 faithful. The Eucharistic Procession from the Sacred Heart College to Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Kennedy Town was indeed an instance of one's own profession of faith and an act of evangelization.

Fr. Francois Barriquand joins our Chinese Bible Project

We are very happy to have Fr. Francois Barriquand helping the Chinese Bible projects. Fr. Francois Barriquand is a MEP, a Scientist and Biblical Scholar, with fluent Mandarin and Cantonese, had been conducting researches in the Centre for Catholic Studies in the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Fr. Francois Barriquand
Fr. Francois is very happy to associate with us in spreading the Word of God for Chinese people in the contemporary world. The MEPs have the great history of starting a very early Chinese translation of the New testament in Sichuan, China around the year 1700.
Fr. Francois with our Chinese Editor Winnie Wong [Right]
Currently, he is in Paris, pursuing his research in Physics and Philosophy on the topic: The New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy. We wish Fr. Francois the very best in his research.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

The Nobel Peace Prize for Archbishop Menamparampil? Why not!

The Claretian Community of Macau had a special visitor in the Month of June 2011. Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, President of the Conference of Bishops of North East India and of the Commission for Education and Culture of the Indian Bishops’ Conference (CBCI) was in Macau last Month.

Fr. Rossa with Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, SDB

We have the following news from the ANS - Rome
:

(ANS – Rome) – In recent days the numbers of voices being raised for the candidature of the Salesian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, for the Nobel Peace Prize has been increasing. Official confirmation of this comes from the spokesperson of the Indian Bishops’ Conference (CBCI), Fr Joseph Babu Karakombil, as quoted by the Fides Agency.

“It would be a fitting recognition of his commitment and dedication for over 25 years to the building of peace and harmony” “For decades Archbishop Menamparampil has worked tirelessly for peace, reconciliation and stability in north east India, a region marked by constant territorial conflicts and tribal warfare. His work is recognized by religious and civil leaders at local level and is known and appreciated throughout India and Asia. Peace and reconciliation, in the name of the Gospel, are the mission to which he has dedicated his whole life. For this reason the Indian Bishops support whole-heartedly his candidature for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

At present, Bishop Menamparampil chairs the Commission for Evangelization of Peoples at the Federation of Asian Bishop's Conference (FABC)

Enjoy an amazing piece of Chinese Dance!