Macau Pilgrims celebrates Fatima 100
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| Fr. Jojo with the Pilgrims in Fatima |
48 pilgrims from St. Lawrence Church, Macau together with their parish priest Fr. Jojo Ancheril travelled to Portugal and Spain to celebrate the 100 years Anniversary of Fatima apparitions. Fr. Jojo shares his experience:
We spent two days in
Lisbon visiting the important churches like St. Antony Church and Cathedral.
And then we moved to Fatima and spent six days there.
After that we went to Spain
visiting important churches like Our Lady of Pillar, Saragossa, Montserrat
Monastery and Basilica, Cave of St. Ignatius, Holy Family Church (Sagrada
Familia) and several sites of St. Antony Mary Claret and Claretian Martyrs in
Barbastro, Vic and Barcelona. Altogether it was 15 days pilgrimage.
This pilgrimage was
organised in connection with 100 anniversary of Fatima Apparition. And also to
travel through the land of St. Antony May Claret and Claretian Martyrs.
Two days of the Pilgrimage in Fatima, we were able to join international masses and participated in the daily candle
procession with thousands of people from various parts of the world. It was
an enriching experience for all of us. We were also very happy to meet other
priests and faithful from Macau. In Fatima meeting various people from various
cultures and backgrounds were a unique experience.
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| Pilgrims at the monument for the Claretian Martyrs of Barbastro, Spain |
Living the message of
Fatima in our day to day life and it will bring lot of Love, Peace and Joy to
us. Our Lady of Fatima : Pray for us.
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News From the Editor's Desk:
1. A revised edition of José
Pagola's book: "JESUS: An Historical Approximation"
Last year we have published the Chinese Translation of the above book in simplified characters. It is an excellent work on Christology. 3000 copies of the first edition were sold in a
few months time. Hence we did the second edition.
Meanwhile, our Chinese translator and editor compared the text
with the Spanish Edition and discovered that the English edition (upon which
the first translation into Chinese was taken from) omitted many paragraphs and
footnotes. The present edition has amended those omissions. The book is distributed in
Mainland China and has the name of Faith Press and Claretian Publications. Of
course, everything done with official permission!
2. Chinese New Testament - enlarged edition
The Chinese Translation of the New Testament was published in 2014. Further revisions were done in the subsequent editions, published both in Traditional and Simplified versions.
The new edition of the Bible is 40% larger than the previous one. The book
has 1560 pages, printed in bible paper in two colours. The book has extensive introductions,
commentaries and a guide for Lectio Divina for every paragraph of the New
Testament.
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| Copies of the new and old editions of the Chinese New Testament |
The new printing of 5000 copies hit the market
at the end of September. The retail price is heavily subsidized by the Pastoral
Bible Foundation for distribution inside Mainland - and, of course, this book
is also published with official permission of the Chinese authorities.
3. Bible Diary and Daily Gospel 2018
Our Annual flagship title - "Bible
Diary" and "Daily Gospel" are out on stands for grab and most of
the orders of Daily Gospel 2018 and Bible Dairy 2018 have already reached their
destination!
This
year "The Bible Diary" turns 32 years old and now it reaches more
than 20 countries. It all began in Manila in 1985, and now it is published in
over 20 languages by the Claretians worldwide and over a million copies are
sold each year.
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| Cover of the Chinese Daily Gospel 2018 |
The Bible Diary for the Spanish Speaking world is prepared from China as well. For the Chinese version, have over 100,000 copies of the Daily Gospel printed in Simplified and Traditional characters. The reflections of the Chinese Daily Gospel prepared by the Claretian Publications is also used by the UCAN and Chinese Liturgical Apps.
4. Our Web apostolate
A large quantity of biblical literature and daily liturgy is made available online through our blogs and web pages. A good number of volunteers both in English and Chinese languages, support us in this missionary effort.
For Our weekly Bible Study Programme:
For the Bible Commentaries By Fr. Armellini in Italian with English, Chinese and Spanish Sub-titles:http://epiphany.catholic.org.k/home/armellini/
Or in YouTube:
All these works done are followed up separately by our associates in the Mainland because they have no access to the blogs and YouTube.
The Armellini Commentaries are available in simplified Chinese in the following link:
The Videos of Fr. Armellini with Chinese subtitles are available in Youku:
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Religious Freedom and 68 Years of PRC
Courtesy: O'Clarim
The 68th anniversary of
the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong is marked on
October 1. Speaking to O CLARIM, Fathers Mai Lio, Alberto Rossa and João
Evangelista Lau share their vision about the most populated country on earth.
With missionary work in
Mainland China, Fr Mai Lio told O CLARIM that the People’s Republic of China
(PRC) has made great progress in recent decades, especially in the economic
field. “When I first entered the country, I noticed that there was little
development. It was rare to see a car. People moved around by motorcycle,
bicycle or on foot,” the priest, for whom “it’s very difficult to talk about
China,” reminisced.
“Chinese mentality has no
comparison with any other,” he stated. “It’s necessary to take into account the
political factor from everything else,” he also said, since “the ordinary
people are generally very nice...”
Fr Alberto Rossa has
worked “in several countries around the world, and for the last 20 years” he has
been “in contact with many people in Mainland China.” He is now in Hong Kong.
Previously, he has worked in Macau.
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| Fr. Alberto Rossa |
“My experience with
Chinese people, Christians or not, is for the most part of deep respect and
admiration. I have never found such professionalism and even friendship, as in
the Mainland, especially in my work as a publisher dealing with a very big
printing press,” he told us.
“What we usually look for
in dealing with a printing press is: price, quality, delivery on time, and if
possible, a credit line. I have found much more than that in Amity, our press:
a sense of belonging as in a family; a friendship that goes way farthest than
just ‘business’; a professionalism not found anywhere else in my experience,”
he added. Fr Rossa is the director of Pastoral Bible Foundation.
Although the PRC has made
remarkable progresses in many ways, Fr João Evangelista Lau pointed out,
“there’s still little religious freedom.”
“In the Mainland we may
find more and more developed cities than Macau. However, freedom, especially
religious, is lacking for the Catholic Church. It seems to me that, in a way,
China doesn’t trust the Church much. It’s not like Taoism, rooted in China, or
Buddhism, originally from India,” he said.
“The Catholic Church is more universal [than the
other two], thus is more in contact with other parts of the world. Chinese
authorities have a great fear, but they do not understand our religion, my
experience tells me. More dialogue is needed, so both parties could understand
each other better,” Fr Lau mentioned, admitting, “it will take time” until they
reach an understanding.
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Fr. Wotherspoon wins People's Choice in the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards
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| Winners of the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards 2017. Fr. John Wotherspoon OMI is in the extreme right. |
Six extraordinary individuals and two corporations who
have inspired the Hong Kong society with their contributions to humanity won this
year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, organised by the South China Morning Post to
honour the unsung heroes who might otherwise be left unnoticed.
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| Fr. John David Wotherspoon OMI |
Fr. John Wotherspoon is an Oblate Missionary. Born
in Brisbane 1946, Fr. John joined Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1965. He was
ordained a priest in 1973. He worked in Australia in schools and parishes until
1984. He has been a missionary in Hong Kong and China since 1985. Fr. John is
presently in full-time ministry to the poor, especially prisoners.
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| A good friend and trendsetter 'to be missionaries to the peripheries' and 'to be pastors with the smell of the sheep'! Frs. Alberto, Jose and Arnold with Fr. Wotherspoon (2 from right) in the file photo --------------------------------- |
Archbishop Savio Hon is nuncio to Greece
Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-fai, the top Chinese official at
the Holy See, has been appointed the apostolic nuncio to Greece. Hong Kong-born Archbishop Savio Hon has served
as secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of the
Peoples since 2010.
Salesian Archbishop Hon was the only high-ranking Chinese
official in the Roman Curia and has often encouraged Chinese Catholics to be
brave and walk the path of truth and charity.
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The Challenge is on the Youth: Bishop Yeung
Courtesy: UCAN news
Bishop Michael Yeung of Hong Kong says that
young people in the city are facing a lot of challenges today. Hong Kong’s new Bishop opines that high levels
of disparity and low social mobility for most of Hong Kong's youth will do no
good for the city's future.
"The younger folks have to stay with their
parents even at the age of 30 something, because they have no place to set up
their own family. And the original flat [with their parents] is already very
small," says Bishop Michael Yeung. According to the U.S. Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, Hong Kong is ranked the world's least affordable
city to buy a home.
The 71-year-old bishop further pointed out that
young people in the city don't have the space to raise a child and have a
proper family life which is affecting the society. "We have high-rise buildings in Hong Kong but
they're mainly bought by mainlanders with cash. But lots of people in Hong Kong
are just in a ‘coffin flat' and it creates a lot of problems," Bishop
Yeung said.
Bishop Yeung said one day those under the age of 30 will
be the main force in society but they must be better prepared. "I must ask do you [older generations] think you
have prepared younger generations well enough for them to take over [the
society]?" he said. The bishop believes these challenges may be
opportunities and warnings for society to look at how they can better prepare
its young people for challenges ahead.
