Singapore, Nov 26, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Chinese Catholic pastoral leaders from around the world have expressed concern about the future of their faith communities in their respective countries due to a lack of priests who speak the main Chinese languages.
Other participants at the Worldwide Overseas Chinese Pastoral and Evangelization Convention III in Singapore, held Nov. 17-21, expressed concern about the continuity of their communities, saying that young Chinese prefer are not actively involved in the Chinese community and prefer to join their local Church community, reported UCA News.
About 200 people from 15 countries reportedly participated at the conference, including a dozen Catholics from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Fr. Augustine Chan of the Archdiocese of Toronto said only seven Chinese priests, including two on contract from Hong Kong, serve Chinese Catholics in Canada’s largest diocese. There are 500,000 ethnic Chinese in Greater Toronto.
Participants resolved to increase support for Chinese priestly vocations, to emphasize the formation of youth leaders in their communities and to build communion within their own communities.
Inspired to do greater outreach among the Chinese people, they also decided to share evangelization resources and to create a website to facilitate communication with one another, reported UCA News.