ASIA/TAIWAN - The Carmelite Novitiate of Asia returns to Taiwan

Hsin Chu (Agenzia Fides) - Building a base for the formation of the Carmelite vocation in the Chinese world in Asia and for the linguistic formation of all Carmelites in the world: with this purpose, from January 2013 the Carmelite Novitiate of Asia returns to Taiwan, moving from Singapore, where it was transferred in 2000. According to the Weekly Catholic of the Archdiocese of Tai Pei, 5 novices who are now in the Philippines (3) and Rome (2), together with the rector, the spiritual director, and a dozen young Asian religious, will form the new community, thanks to the support of the Bishop of the Diocese of Hsin Chu, His Exc. Mgr. J. B. Lee Keh Mean.
The Carmelites of Taiwan will retrace nearly 30 years of their presence on the island of Taiwan and in Asia with a seminar and a few moments of prayer (6, 13 and 14 October), in view of the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, which is celebrated on October 15. They also publicly thanked Mgr. Lee and the Diocese of Hsin Chu from the pages of the Catholic Weekly for the welcoming and availability. The memory of Fr. John M Chen OCD, the first Chinese Carmelite, founder of the Carmelite communities in China, Singapore and South Asia remains alive. The Carmelite sisters arrived in Taiwan in 1954, founded the first monastery of the island. Fr. Chen, who had been expelled from China together with his confreres in 1951, instead arrived in Taiwan in 1981. Three years later, the first born male Carmelite monastery in the diocese of Hsin Chu was born. When Fr. Chen returned to the Father's house, in 2009, the province China-Singapore, was composed of a dozen local religious, including 6,7 Chinese. Today the Carmelite Province China-Singapore is made up of religious from Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 02/10/2012)