Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - The 50th anniversary of Vatican II was the central theme of the Fifth Forum on Catholic Studies for Young Chinese Scholars 2012 organized by the "Beijing Institute for the Study of Christian Culture " which was held recently in Beijing. According to information from Sapientia Press House of the Diocese of Beijing, collected by Fides Agency, the Forum saw the presentation of about fifty thesis and the speeches of about forty young Chinese scholars or experts in studies of Christianity and Catholicism , together with priests and Catholic theologians.
Mgr. Peter Zhao, Vicar of the Diocese of Beijing, director of the "Beijing Institute for the Study of Christian Culture" presided over the opening and closing of the three-day study. The Forum was divided into 5 parts: the theology of the II Vatican Council; Catholicism and modern society; Catholicism and modern education; the history of Catholicism; the charitable work of the Catholic Church. Several distinguished scholars spoke in the debate, including Professor. Jean-Paul Wiest, on the history and the legacy of the Second Vatican Council, and Fr. Eamonn O'Brien, SSC, director of the cultural exchange Institute between England and China.
The "Beijing Institute for the Study of Christian Culture" has been organizing the annual Forum since 2008, gaining an increasingly large presence of leading academics and scholars of Christianity also internationally renowned. During the discussion, participants offered a number of useful proposals for the mission of evangelization in today's Chinese society. All the texts presented at the Forum will be published in the Journal of Catholic Studies, volume, published periodically by the Institute. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 14/01/2013)
