Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - Chinese Catholics celebrated the annual feast of Corpus Christ with great fervour and in great numbers. In a letter for the occasion published earlier Archbishop Cheng of Taipei encouraged Catholics to make faith-life be ever more part of daily life and he asked: “Does the Eucharist have a concrete impact on our daily life? In the Eucharist de we experience close union with the Lord Jesus Christ?”.
Calling everyone to take part in the Corpus Christi procession on May 28 the Archbishop said he hoped the witness would help “our non Christian brothers and sisters see that Christ is an essential part of our life” and he called on clergy and religious to be ‘leaven’ in the ‘dough’ of the world. In response to the Archbishop’s call Catholics turned up in great numbers to take part in the procession which wove its way through the streets like a great river.
Also parishes in mainland China in Beijing organised Corpus Christi processions. More than two thousand Catholics, including many young people and many immigrant workers gathered for the procession at Holy Saviour parish. One of those who took part told Fides: “I could not miss the feast of Corpus Christi in this Year of the Eucharist. We are ordinary people but since I was a child I learned from my mother that for Catholics the Eucharist is the heart of life. My grandparents were deeply devoted to the Eucharist and so are my parents and our elderly parish priest”.
In Hong Kong, the annual solemn Mass and procession on Corpus Christ was presided by the Bishop Bishop Joseph Zen.
(Agenzia Fides 31/05/2005 Righe: 25 Parole: 253)
