Welcome to the China-Macau Bulletin, December 2009

Congratulations to the New Delegation Government!
Fr. Francisco Carin (Consultor), Fr. Marcelino Fonts
(Delegate Superior), Fr. Felix Martinez (Econome)
and Fr. Vincent Lee (Consultor)

The General Government, after receiving the soundings from the members, has re-appointed the Government of East Asian Delegation of the Claretians. The new government took charge on 16 November 2009 in Hirakata, Japan. We wish them the Heaven's Choicest Blessings and a fruitful term in the coming years.

Meeting Friends and Partners in Nanjing

Ms. Divine De Leon has been working with the Claretian Publications in the Philippines and later in Macau. Having monitored the entire publishing projects of the Claretian Publications with Fr. Rossa for years, she had the opportunity to work in close association with the Amity Press at Nanjing. Amity Press, located in the city of Nanjing, is one of the largest bible printing companies in the world. It is there where we print close to half a million copies of books every year. Last month, Divine visited the Amity Press and following is a brief account of her experiences

Fany, Delrita, Jill, Chunnong, Me, Mr. Zhu,
Roy, Gary and Tony

"I remember hearing from Fr. Rossa some years back how the Bible containers sail across the oceans, going to different parts of the world — and you would see in him the excitement. Now I know… I am appreciating more than ever this work and ministry. Father’s parish is really BIG – IT IS THE WORLD.

"Work becomes harder when you do not have reliable and good partners. Thanks really to technology: emails, chat, and SMS, we can deal faster with our clients and partners in this ministry. For me those at AMITY are not just clients and partners, they are friends.

"Nanjing is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. Nanjing (literally: 'Southern capital') served as the capital of China during several historical periods and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China before the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

With my “girls” Fany, Delrita & Yanyan in our
office at Amity Press

"The weather this time of the year is quite cold, but with the warm hearts of our friends, one would forget the weather! The Amity Press has a workforce of 400 plus people. There I met Chunnong, Gary and Mr. Zhu and the rest of the people. We had time to discus and work with father Rossa online. They assigned me an office where I could work for a day! We are now printing about 120,000 copies of Bibles and books that will be completed by February 2010.

CHINA Mainland clergy welcome Vatican letter

Fr. Rossa with a group of priests from Hebei, Mainland China

Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone's letter, written for the Year for Priests, was published in the Vatican's Fides Service and Vatican Radio websites on Nov. 16. It was believed to be a result of the meeting of the Holy See's Commission for the Catholic Church in China in late March.

Half of the meeting was devoted to the formation of seminarians, priests and Religious.The document, dated Nov. 10, reiterates the importance of reconciliation within the Catholic community and reminded the clergy to find strength from the Eucharist. It also advised bishops to ensure adequate formation for their priests.

A procession of deacons before their priestly

ordination Mass in Jilin, China (File photo)

Father John Li Hongwei of Changsha, from the "open" Church community, said the letter was timely and useful in helping priests learn how to act according to the Gospel. Since Changsha diocese has had no bishop for nine years, his fellow priests have tended to work independently with little cooperation among themselves. Such lack of unity has caused many problems, he said. Father Paul Bai Chunlong of Jilin, also from the open Church community, appreciated the cardinal's reminder to bishops to pay "particular attention" to young priests working alone soon after ordination.

Commenting on the letter's emphasis on "reconciliation within the Catholic community" in China, he believes bishops from both Church communities should take the lead by contacting and accepting one other. "Three of my primary schoolmates became underground priests and we lost contact. But now we phone each other and meet up regularly," he said.

Courtesy - UCA News

Radio Veritas Asia to broadcast "Bible Diary 2010"

The Radio Veritas Asia, the Catholic Radio Station, has expressed their desire to make use of the Bible Diary 2010 in English and Chinese for one of their broadcasting programmes. This is an added recognition to the popular Bible Diary from the Claretian Publications

“Letter from China”

In Poland 30,000 young Europeans will reflect on a “Letter from China”
Taizé: Press release 26 November 2009

30,000 young people from across Europe and other continents will gather in Poznan, Poland, from December 29, 2009 to January 2, 2010 at the invitation of the Taizé Community. This 32nd European young adult meeting has been organized in response to the invitation of the archbishop and ecumenical leaders of Poznań. From Portugal to Russia, from Sweden to Croatia, all European countries will be represented.

Five-day-long European meetings have been organized by the brothers of Taizé since 1978. They have been held in Paris, Barcelona, London, Rome, ... These meetings are part of a “pilgrimage of trust on earth” launched thirty years ago by Brother Roger, founder of the Taizé Community.

During the meeting in Poland, participants will spend their mornings in 150 parishes of the dioceses of Poznań and Gniezno. In the afternoon they will meet in the exhibition halls of the city for meals, worship together and workshops on social issues and inner life. In some of these workshops, experiences of commitment to justice, solidarity and peace in the world will enable participants to prepare to take on responsibilities back in their home countries ... During the prayer each evening, Brother Alois, Prior of Taizé, Brother Roger’s successor, will deliver a meditation.

On the occasion of the meeting in Poznan, Brother Alois will publish a “Letter from China”, translated into fifty languages, which the young people will receive upon their arrival in Poland. Taizé has had relations with Christians in China for over twenty years. As a sign of friendship and community, through “Operation Hope”, this year one million Bibles were printed in Chinese and circulated in all parts of the country.

Accompanied by two brothers of the community, a Chinese and a Korean, Brother Alois has just completed a tour of three weeks in mainland China. He will speak about this in Poznan. “What dynamic faith there is among Christians in that country!” he wrote. “We admire their perseverance and their loyalty. Several people told us about the suffering that their parents or grandparents endured for the faith. We met believers who, in their humble situation, play an active role in building the future of their country. In Sichuan province, for example, after the great earthquake of 2008, some went to help offer aid to the victims; they are still there and are greatly appreciated by the population.”

The "Letter from China" and the detailed program of the Poznan meeting will be available before mid-December. - November 26, 2009

Experts urge switch from one child policy

China needs to adjust its one-child family planning policy to fight a worsening gender imbalance and an aging population with too few children, experts said.

The photograph reflects the gender imbalance story of China. More boys than girls were in this kindergarten in Beijing on Friday when a China Daily photographer visited it. [China Daily]

"I think to properly adjust it during the twelfth five-year plan period (2011-2015) will be beneficial to both families and the whole society," said Yuan Xin, a professor with the Population and Development Institute of Tianjin-based Nankai University. China has 33.31 million more men than women among the population born during 1980-2000. The ratio of males to females at birth has kept rising since the 1980s. The normal range worldwide is 103 to 107 males born for every 100 females born. In China, that ratio reached 120.56 last year, Yuan said.

"This gender gap is unprecedented in the history of the populous countries in the world, and will continue to widen in the short term," he said. China launched its nationwide, one-child family planning policy in the 1970s. Though it prevented 400 million births, it has been criticized for leading to gender imbalance, a large elderly population and a scarcity of working-age people.

"From now on, we should launch a new population policy advocating 'two children for one couple', with the objective of preventing a rapidly aging population with too few children in the future”, he said.

HK's Novel Campaign for Vocations!

Around 1.3 million commuters had the chance recently to see Catholic clergy pursuing favorite pastimes in a series of videos aired on Hong Kong's public buses.The Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre (DAVC) filmed videos highlighting leisure activities of Hong Kong's Catholic bishop and a few priests for its "God on the Bus" initiative as a special series for of the Year for Priests.

Bishop John Tong of Hong Kong with his Violin

Bishop John Tong Hon plays basketball and the violin in the "Serving God with Joy" series. The two-minute videos also featured six other clergymen. Father Philip Chan Tak-hung performs magic and Deacon Paul Yeow Yu-hong practices taichi with a sword.The mini-programs were shown every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Oct. 2 to Nov. 8 on 1,600 buses fitted with multimedia systems. They have since been uploaded onto Youtube.

Hong Kong has no regulation against showing religious programs on buses. DAVC program organizer Loura Foo says the videos showed the public that Catholic clergy have personal interests besides religious activities. They provided a good stage to promote priestly vocations, she added.

Merry Christmas!!

We, the Missionaries in China-Macau-Hong Kong-Taiwan, wish all our beloved friends and well-wishers the joys and blessings of Christmas!

And wish you all a very prosperous New Year 2010