(ANS - Hong Kong) - To celebrate the Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, Salesian Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, held a cycle of 40 catecheses, now drawing to a close. Sent over the internet every Wednesday to parishes in the Territory and Macao, his catecheses are also intended to be released on DVD and to be spread further among the Chinese faithful.

Speaking to AsiaNews, the Salesian Cardinal said: "The courses have been going on throughout the year, every Wednesday, for a total of 40 lessons for an hour and a half per episode: the last one will take place in mid-July. We began in September and of course it is open to everyone. However, there are only 100 seats in the hall of the Salesian House in Hong Kong, so we chose to stream the lessons live on the internet."

The course he continued, "was divided into three units: a distant parish joined the first unit through the web, then others followed, including Macau: we have about 400 people following live. The diocesan centre records the lessons with three cameras and now we are ready to publish them on DVDs. The first unit, the one on dogma, is ready. Later we will translate the whole course into Mandarin Chinese - in the Territory we speak Cantonese".

The initiative stems from a desire to emphasise the importance of this time: "The Year of Faith has borne much fruit: here in Hong Kong we have so much diversity, even in the faith, and we saw groups engaged in several initiatives related to Second Vatican Council, we celebrated the 50th anniversary and the catechism. Activities related to the Catholic world are flourishing, involving associations and institutions".

Moreover, "every year Hong Kong celebrates many baptisms, several thousand at Easter. We insist on Catholic formation: baptism is the beginning, not the end of the journey. It is very encouraging to see that each year 3,500 catechumens are followed by volunteer catechists, who have studied in the seminary or Bible study courses and accompany their new brothers and sisters in the maturation of their faith".

During his last visit to Rome, Card. Zen Ze-kiun presented the course to Pope Francis and to Benedict XVI: "Benedict himself said he was very happy at this initiative, adding that 'every diocese should do the same.'"

Turning instead to Pope Francis, Card. Zen said: "I already knew Cardinal Bergoglio, we were members of the same Commission that has reaped the fruits of the Synod on the Eucharist. Together we prepared the following Synod and then we met in the General Congregations. At the meeting of cardinals to bid farewell to Benedict XVI we were seated next to each other: I spoke about China and he listened carefully. He is a very pastoral man and listens intently, he is a wonderful person."

Published on 11/07/2013