Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “In my new, sensitive role I would like to be a builder of bridges with China”: Fides was told by Archbishop-elect Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B., new Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, who took office today of the missionary Congregation.
On the sidelines of the presentation ceremony, the Secretary said in an exclusive interview with Fides: “I thank the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, for choosing me and especially for the attention and love shown towards Asia and China in particular. I would like to thank Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, for welcoming me with great joy and warmth. I see that inside the Congregation, the atmosphere is very good and thus, I am very pleased. I will be able to work with the assistance of very competent people. In my new, delicate role, I would be an instrument in building bridges with China. I am very excited at the beginning of this mandate, and I also feel the responsibility of a post that covers a vast field: taking care of the pastoral life of more than 1,000 church districts. I hope that the Church's evangelizing and the missionary work of this Congregation may take on a new momentum, especially in countries with ancient traditions and cultures, such as China and India.”
Archbishop-elect Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B., was born in Hong Kong on 21 October, 1950. Before the pontifical appointment he was Professor of Theology at the Hong Kong Seminary. He worked as a visiting Professor at various seminaries in China. He has further responsible for the translation into Chinese of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He belongs to the Salesian Province of China (China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan). (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/1/2011)
