Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tai Chung (Agenzia Fides) – In Taiwan, in the diocese of Tai Chung, the Catholic parish of Zhu Shan, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, is busy with preparations to celebrate 100 years of life and mission on 9 October this year. The parish church actually built in the 1950s but on the site where a Catholic community had gathered in temporary premises for fifty years, hence the centenary celebrations.
According to information sent to Fides, a solemn Mass with the administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation to 12 parishioners by the local Bishop Martin Su Yao Wen, was the first of a series of events leading up to the main centenary celebrations. In his homily the Bishop encouraged the community “to remain strong in the faith and grace so the parish may bear abundant fruits of evangelisation in the future ”.
According to the older members of the community, the history of the parish dates to the work of Dominican missionaries, as the rest of Taiwan which as the island Catholic community last year marked 150 years since the arrival of the Gospel. The present church of Zhu Shan was built in 1953, in a typically Chinese style, and a year later 1954 the first baptisms were administered. Today the parish is very active with a Legion of Mary group and a Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled persons. The diocese of Tai Chung has a community of 26,464 Catholics gathered in 5 deaneries and 35 parishes served by 71 priests, 10 Brothers, 114 Sisters, 9 catechists and there are 4 seminarians. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 16/06/2010 - righe 24; parole 261)
