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Month: March 2023

Asian Catholic bishops call for ‘pastoral action’ to address challenges facing region

Delegates to the general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences pose for a photograph at the end of their meeting on Oct. 29, 2022. (FABC Photo handout)

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences urged Churches and Church leaders to go “off the beaten track” and to “face new pastoral priorities”

Jose Torres Jr.
March 16, 2023

Asia’s Catholic leaders called on Churches across the region to launch “pastoral actions” to address challenges facing Asia, such as the climate crisis and the situation of migrants and refugees.

In its “final document” following its general conference in Thailand in October, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) urged Churches and Church leaders to go “off the beaten track” and to “face new pastoral priorities.”

The document was presented online on Wednesday, March 15, five months after the general conference in October to mark FABC’s 50th year.

The so-called “Bangkok Document” brings together reflections shared by participants of the conference, an event that Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, FABC president, described as “a watershed for the journey of the Churches of Asia.”

He said the gathering in October that brought together 226 lay people, consecrated men and women, priests, bishops, archbishops, major archbishops, and cardinals from 17 episcopal conferences and two synods of Oriental Churches in Asia was “a dialogue in solidarity and collegiality.”

Cardinal Bo said the “Bangkok Document” aims to translate into the life of the communities the discussions during the meeting that carried the theme “Journeying together as Peoples of Asia.”

The document invites the Church in Asia to return to the people “by another road” like what the Wise Men who came from the East did after meeting with Jesus in Bethlehem.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, said the document is a text for Churches across Asia “to reflect, pray, and choose their own priorities.”

“I think that, as was the case with the Aparecida Document in Latin America, it will be the point of reference for our communities for the next five or ten years,” said the prelate.

The “Aparecida Document” is the final document of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, which met in May 2007 on the theme “Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ so that our peoples may have life in Him. ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ (Jn 14:6).”

Cardinal Gracias said the “Bangkok Document” is “an indication of the direction in which to work in order to be a Church for a better Asia and a better world,” adding that it is “the mission that God has assigned to us.”

Thai youth welcome Asian bishops with spectacular show at the opening ceremony of the 50th Anniversary FABC General Conference in Thailand, Oct. 12, 2022. (Photo by Nattha Nuchsuwan / LiCAS.news)

Synodality and pastoral presence

The document, which was drafted by a committee led by Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, is divided in five chapters that focus on “synodality,” the emerging challenges in Asian society, the responses to the pastoral challenges, the relationship between the Churches of Asia and the universal Church, and the pastoral presence of the Church in Asia.

The five chapeters of the 40-page document are titled: “Journeying together,” “Looking at Asia’s emerging realities,” “Discerning what the Spirit is saying to the Church in Asia,” “Offering Our Gifts which are Asian Culture and Spirituality,” and “Opening New Pathways.”

“Journeying together” discusses issues on how to respond to the “call of synodality.” It talks about the “three essential elements” of a synodal church, that is, Communion, Participation, and Mission.

The second part of the document looks into Asia’s emerging realities and the challenges confronting the Church in Asia. The document identifies challenges, especially those pertaining to:

  • Migrants, refugees, and Indigenous People
  • Families who are the bedrock of society
  • Gender Issues confronting the Church and Society
  • The role of women in fast-changing Asian societies
  • Youth confronting a new world
  • The impact of digital technology
  • Promoting an equitable Economy in the face of Urbanization and Globalization
  • The Climate Crisis, which endangers Our Common Home
  • Interreligious Dialogue

The document urges Churches to undertake pastoral action, from attention to the family to leadership roles for women in ecclesial communities.

Churches are also urged to be more conscious in the use of digital technologies and to be “bridges of dialogue and reconciliation.” They are also called to undertake formation courses for the clergy in the context and culture of Asia.

The document also identifies “new paths” that Churches of Asia will follow in its work for evangelization, including a transition “from a paradigm with a dominant model to a truly inculturated approach.”

Basic ecclesial communities are invited to “widen the stakes of their tent” and become realities that also look beyond borders to broaden relationships with men and women of every confession.

In ecclesial life, a “qualitative leap” from dialogue to “true synodality” is suggested, while in the proclamation of the Gospel, there should be a transition from “abstract proclamation” to the “telling of stories of faith incarnated in life.”

Bishops from across Asia prepare for the celebration of the closing Mass at the end of the general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 30, 2022. (Photo by Joe Torres)

Commitment to the poor

During their meeting in October, Asia’s Catholic Church leaders committed themselves to “positively respond to ‘both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.’”

In a message to the “Peoples of Asia,” the Church leaders said they were “challenged by the different voices of our multifaceted continent that we hear crying out for help and justice.”

In a statement, they said they were able to “touch the soul of Asia” during their series of meetings and consultations held in the outskirts of the Thai capital from October 12 to 30.

“We were inspired by the hope, courage, and determination shown by the Churches in Asia to journey together and work with more dedicatedly for a better Asia,” read the bishops’ statement.

They said that “in prayer and in a spirit of collaboration,” they want to respond to the challenges being faced by the region “by relying on the power of love, compassion, justice, and forgiveness.”

“We believe that peace and reconciliation is the only way forward,” the said, adding that they have “envisaged new pathways for our ministry based on mutual listening and genuine discernment.”

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What Does It Mean To Be Apostles? Pope Francis Explains The Call to Be Apostles

Pope Francis General Audience. Photo: Vatican Media
General audience of the Pope Wednesday March 15 on being apostles in a missionary church.

MARCH 15, 2023 04:33 ZENIT STAFF GENERAL AUDIENCE

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 03.15.2023).- Today, March 15, Pope Francis held Wednesday’s traditional General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square. After the tour in the popemobile, the Holy Father imparted the seventh catechesis on apostolic zeal, which on this occasion he dedicated to the theme “To Be Apostles in a Missionary Church.”

Let us continue the catechesis on the passion of evangelizing: not only on “evangelizing,” the passion for evangelizing and, in the school of Vatican Council II, let us try to understand better what it means to be “apostles” today. The word “apostle” reminds us of the group of the Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. At times we refer to some Saint, or more generally the Bishops, as “apostles”: they are apostles, because they go in the name of Jesus. But are we aware that being apostles concerns every Christian? Are we aware that it concerns each one of us? Indeed, we are required to be apostles — that is, envoys — in a Church that, in the Creed, we profess as apostolic.

So, what does it mean to be apostles? It means being sent for a mission. The event in which the Risen Christ sends His apostles into the world, passing on to them the power He Himself received from the Father and giving them His Spirit, is exemplary and foundational. We read in the Gospel of John: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me even so I send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (20:21-22).

Another fundamental aspect of being an apostle is the vocation, that is, the calling. It has been thus ever since the beginning, when the Lord Jesus “called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him” (Mark 3:13). He constituted them as a group, attributing to them the title of “apostle”, so they would come with Him and send them on their mission (cf. Mark 3:14; Matthew 10:1-42). Saint Paul, in his letters, presents himself as “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle”, that is, an envoy (1 Corinthians 1:1), and again, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle” (Romans 1:1). And he insists on the fact that he is “an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Galatians 1:1); God called him from his mother’s womb to proclaim the Gospel among the nations (cf. Galatians 1:15-16).

The experience of the Twelve Apostles and the testimony of Paul also challenges us today. They invite us to verify our attitudes, to verify our choices, our decisions, on the basis of these fixed points: everything depends on a gratuitous call from God; God also chooses us for services that at times seem to exceed our capacities or do not correspond to our expectations; the call received as a gratuitous gift must be answered gratuitously.

The Council says: “the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate” (Decree Apostolicam actuositatem [AA], 2). It is a calling that is common, just as “a common dignity [is shared] as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity” (Lumen gentium, 32).

It is a call that concerns both those who have received the sacrament of Orders, consecrated persons, and all lay faithful, man or woman: it is a call to all. You, the treasure you have received with your Christian vocation, are obliged to give it: it is the dynamic nature of the vocation, the dynamic nature of life. It is a call that empowers them to actively and creatively perform their apostolic task, within a Church in which “there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity too: all of you, the majority of you are laypeople. The laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole People of God in the Church and in the world” (AA, 2).

In this framework, what does the Council mean by the collaboration of the laity with the hierarchy? How is it meant? Is it a mere strategic adaptation to new situations as they come? Not at all, not at all: there is something more, that exceeds the contingencies of the moment and which maintains its own value for us too. The Church is like that, it is founded and apostolic.

Within the framework of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories: here there is not a promotion, and when you conceive of Christian life as a promotion, that the one who is above commands all the others because he has succeeded in climbing, this is not Christianity. This is pure paganism.

The Christian vocation is not a promotion, so as to rise, no! It is something else. It is a great thing because, although by the will of Christ some are in an important position, perhaps, doctors, “pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ” (LG, 32). Who has more dignity in the Church: the Bishop, the priest? No, we are all Christians in the service of others. Who is more important in the Church: the religious Sister or the common person, baptized, not baptized, the child, the Bishop…? They are all equal, we are equal and when one of the parties believes himself to be more important than the others, turning up his nose, it is a mistake. That is not the vocation of Jesus. The vocation that Jesus gives, to everyone, but also to those who seem to be in the highest places, is service, serving others, humbling oneself. If you find a person who in the Church has a higher vocation and you see he is vain, say, “Poor soul”, pray for him, because he has not understood what the vocation of God is. The vocation of God is adoration of the Father, love for the community, and service. This is what being apostles is, this is the witness of apostles.

The matter of equality in dignity asks us to rethink may aspects of our relations, which are decisive for evangelization. For example, are we aware of the fact that with our words we can undermine the dignity of people, thus ruining relationships within the Church? While we try to engage in dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves as believers? Or in the parish, one person goes against another, one speaks badly of another in order to climb up further? Do we know how to listen to understand another person’s reasons, or do we impose ourselves, perhaps even with appeasing words? To listen, to be humble, to be at the service of others: this is serving, this is being Christian, this is being an apostle.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to ask these questions. Let us shun vanity, the vanity of positions. These words can help us to confirm how we live our baptismal vocation, how we live our way of being apostles in an apostolic Church, which is at the service of others.