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.

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!

Welcome to the Macau-China Bulletin, June 2011

Dear Friends, you know that China is a large and very complex country; and it is considered to be the final frontier for the Church. Perhaps you may have already learned, for example, that China has one of the greatest networks of rail lines in the whole world…; recently, they have inaugurated a special route between Shanghai and Beiging (1300 klms.) and the speed train covers the distance in 5 hours, and such other news of the sort. These and the similar news reach you by other means and Media.

We, through this blog, want to share also 'the small news' of our Christian communities in this large and great land. They are drops in the ocean, but they are ferment of the transformation of the Christian communities in the Mainland. And these are the news that you will not have access to through the regular news Media. Welcome to the June 2011 issue of the Macau Bulletin:-

The explosion… of the Word

This happened in Datong, but before a little history...

Datong is situated in northern Shanxi Province. It is bordered by Inner Mongolia to the North and Hebei Province to the east. Covering an area of 14,176 square kilometers (5473 square miles), Datong has four districts and seven counties under its prefecture.
It is the second largest city in Shanxi Province with a population of 2.99 million.

Known as the 'City of the Coal', Datong has developed into the second largest industrial city in Shanxi due to its advantage in energy. Its large reserves of coal make it a very important energy base for China. Datong is one of the 24 famous historical and cultural cities in China due to its ever prosperous history.

The Hanging Gardens, Datong

By the end of March, 2011, the diocese of Datong, China organized a Bible Study seminar. About 160 participants between 20 to 60 years, including university students attended the seminar. This was the first time the Diocese organize a Bible study seminar of this sort. By the end of the seminar, they promised that they would read the Bible everyday by following the methods taught during the sessions.

The Budha Caves

The Religious Sister who conducted the Bible seminar had this to say: "To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus is like throwing a bomb. Wherever the first Christians threw the bomb, it exploded and many were converted to Christianity, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, 3000 people were baptized after the speech of St. Peter (3:37-41), and another 5000 were added later. Today I see the bomb is exploding among you, since all of you are so attentively studying the Bible, I see hope in all of you! ”

Towards the New Evangelization

Jinzhong in the Province of Zhanxi. The City has
about 100,000 inhabitants

Participants of the Evangelizers' Training Program

In the Month of April this year, the diocese of Jinzhong in the province of Zhanxi has organized for the tenth time 'The evangelizers' training program. The training camp was held for eight days attended by 148 participants including priests, nuns and the lay leaders. The training session was organized with the theme: “How to be and evangelizer in today's China”

150 Roses

On 8 May 2011, the second Sunday of Easter, was also the Mother’s Day. The Haikou parish priest celebrated special Mass for all the mothers of the parish. In his homily, the parish priest, Fr. Yang praised the mothers who dedicate their life to their families, and encouraged them to continue to live a life after the example of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and to take the great responsibility of being mothers.

From the Celebration of the Mothers' Day

After the Mass, the priest greeted all the mothers with a rose. There are about 150 roses were given to the mothers together with the blessing of God.

Hǎikǒu (Chinese: 海口), is the capital city of Hainan Province, People's Republic of China. It is situated on the north east coast of Hainan island, and had an estimated population of 1.8 million in 2010, making it by far the largest city on the island. Hainan is formed by different islands.

Pilgrimage in Cangzhou diocese

Cangzhou (simplified Chinese: 沧州; traditional Chinese: 滄州;) is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. Cangzhou's urban center has a population of approximately 488,600 (2004), while the prefecture-level administrative region in total has a population of 6.8 million. It lies 180 km from Beijing, China's capital, and 90 km from the major port city of Tianjin.

The city has historically been known in China for its wushu–or martial arts–and acrobatics (specifically, the Wu Qiao school). Cangzhou is also famed for its historic thousand-year-old 40-ton sculpture, the Iron Lion of Cangzhou. The sculpture is reportedly the largest cast-iron sculpture in the world, cast in 953 in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The famed lion has even given its name to a locally-brewed beer and is a symbol of the city

On May 8th, 2011, there was a great pilgrimage in Cangzhou diocese, Hebei. Faithful from the surrounding regions attended the special Mass. A Scene from the Marian Procession

Bishop Li Liangui presided over the Eucharistic Celebration with over 40 priests concelebrating. During his homily, Bishop Li encouraged people to develop the devotion to Our Blessed Virgin Mary, and to follow her example, and to seek always Her intercession for our needs.

Formation of Evangelizers

In another corner of the province of Hebei a group of 700 Christians have met in an evangelisation forum. The photos speak….

Our friend and collaborator P. Huang Yu Tao during a training session

lots of people… lack of space!

Time to listen...

...and time to pray

A jam-packed Church

The Good Shepherds in the classrooms

The Catholic Education Office scheduled an in-service day for all 12,000 teachers working in Catholic schools in the diocese of Hong Kong on May 20, under the theme, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14).

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Sir Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen [third from left] and Bishop John Tong Hon arriving at the gathering of Catholic School Teachers

Education is one of the highly valued services offered by the Hong Kong diocese. Over the past century-and-a-half, the diocese has become one of the major school sponsoring bodies and providers of education in the territory, with 278 schools serving more than 200,000 students. While there is no argument over the innate value of education, the diocese does have concerns over the quality of the service it is offering. Quality education does not come about simply as a result of high ideals. Good teachers are needed to make it happen. Teachers are important role models for our young people.

While knowledge and teaching skill is a basic necessity, a more important aspect of their work involves their attitude towards life and their work. This has a profound effect on the culture and atmosphere on the campuses of Catholic schools. Teachers are expected to be more than just classroom instructors. They are also expected to have a sense of mission in the spirit and teaching of the gospels.

A still from the program

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,” was a well-chosen topic for the teachers’ gathering. The metaphor of a shepherd is inspirational. Teachers are challenged to follow the example of Christ in identifying the members of their flocks, walking with them and guiding them with care and love.
The most effective way to win the respect of young people and to influence their lives is through the type of loving care that Jesus talks about in the parable of the Good Shepherd.

- The Sunday Examiner