ASIA/HONG KONG - Half of Catholics in the ecclesial circumscription of Xin Jie do not know the Church’s Social Doctrine

Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) – A study done among Catholics prior to parliamentary elections in Hong Kong shows that half of the Catholics asked do not know what the Church’s Social Doctrine is. The same percentage of negative responses came also from the candidates running in the elections. This has been a wakeup call for the local Church. In the ecclesial circumscription of Xin Jie, after an assessment of the 1002 responses considered valid, a study showed that both the Catholic voters and candidates (Catholic and non) are almost completely ignorant as to the Church’s Social Doctrine. After receiving a brief explanation of the content of the Church’s Social Doctrine, 70% of the people had no idea of the great importance of these teachings for the Catholic Church. According to the director of the study, these results can obviously not be indicative of a general status regarding the Church’s Social Doctrine in the Diocese of Hong Kong, but even so, they do not cease to be evidence for what is still left to be done “to help people to understand the thought and teachings of the Church on social issues.” (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 12/9/2008)