ASIA/CHINA - For many Chinese Catholics Christmas was an opportunity to meet non Christians and share with them the true significance of the festivity

Monday, 9 January 2006

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Rome (Fides Service) - Christmas festivities were lived with solemnity among Chinese believers at home and overseas. Many Catholic communities made Christmas an opportunity to meet non Christians: at intervals between liturgies various parishes opened the doors of their church to non Christians anxious to know more about the Church and the meaning of Christmas. While Christmas hymns and carols played in the background Visitors were taken round the church by catechists who explained the basic essentials of the Christian faith and the true significance of the Nativity of Christ. Christmas decorations Chinese style made it easier for non Christians to appreciate and understand the Good Tidings. As church bells chimed in the parishes of Holy Saviour, Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph and St. Michael, children offered gifts to the Infant Jesus in the manger. On 28 December in Han Dan diocese 11 couples were married after following a course of preparation for Christian marriage.
In Hong Kong, the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Joseph Zen, presided Midnight Mass on 24 December. The day before 23 December he went to Hong Kong Gaol to celebrate Christmas Mass for the prisoners. Whereas inmates at Hong Kong’s Catholic Home for the elderly were treated to a Christmas Concert sung by Kammpi Choir a choir of immigrant Catholics from the Philippines. Before Christmas to encourage Catholics to be more generous towards the needy with prayers and material aid, the Hong Kong diocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Workers launched a campaign “Being poor for a week 7”.
In Tai Pei diocese, Taiwan, a solemn Christmas Mass was celebrated by the Archbishop Joseph Cheng. In an initiative to “carry Christmas to the city centre” the archdiocese set up a beautiful Nativity Scene in the centre of Tai Pei. The local Catholic Charity Association organised a charity meeting and party for the elderly, the sick and people in need. From Australia to the United States, from south Asia to Europe, from Hawaii to South Africa, Chinese Catholics overseas gathered to celebrate Christmas with solemnity. (Agenzia Fides 09/01/2006 Righe: 31 Parole: 401)