ASIA/HONG KONG - Message for Chinese New Year from the six major religious groups of Hong Kong: solidarity, charity, moral principles, interior purification, and spirituality are the keys to overcoming the current crisis, to bring about peace and harmony

Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - Solidarity, charity, moral principles, interior purification, and spirituality are the key points that the leaders of the six major religious groups of the Special Administration of Hong Kong are proposing in the Message published on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, needed in overcoming the crisis and bringing about peace and harmony. According to a report from Kong Ko Bao (the Chinese version of the diocesan newspaper), the leaders of the Buddhist, Confucianist, Catholic, Protestant, Taoist, and Muslim communities have signed the yearly message on the eve of the Chinese New Year, which this year is celebrated on January 26. In the Message, they make reference to the events that have taken place in Hong Kong over the past year, including the financial crisis that has affected the lives of so many families, leading even to the suicide of many people who lost possessions that they had spent their lives storing up. They also addressed the social issues, the restlessness of the youth...In concluding, the religious leaders said they are convinced that only an interior conversion, a return to traditional moral principles, along with concrete acts of charity, can resolve the situation, freeing the entire land from the crisis which is financial, but above all moral, creating true peace and harmony. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 23/01/2009)