Year of Faith Opening
Celebration in Yangon
“Study your faith; share your faith; witness you faith.”
YANGON: 12th October 2012
-- Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon presided at the Mass and
opening
ceremony of the Year of Faith at St. Mary’s Cathedral in
Yangon on 11
October 2012. Priests and faithful representing all 39
parishes, and
religious in the Archdiocese of Yangon, joined the
celebrations. The
flag with the logo of Year of Faith was hoisted and a big
candle
marking the Year of Faith was lit by the Archbishop. Over 1000
people
participated in the Mass and ceremony.
In his homily, the Archbishop recalled the 50th anniversary of
the
Vatican Ecumenical Council II. “Vatican II is the most
remarkable and
important council in the 20th and 21st centuries and in the
life of the
Church till now” he said. Recalling the words of Holy Father
Pope
Blessed John XXIII “Mother Church is happy and exults with
joy...because God the Father has looked upon us; we have been
anointed
by God the Spirit and sent forth by God the Son”, he
encouraged the
priests, religious and faithful to work more for dialogue,
openness,
reconciliation and unity. “The core message of Vatican II is
‘Change of
attitude’”, he said. “Many who know about it have not yet
implemented
it fully; many have not studied it yet; many pretend not to
know about
it; because the challenges the council set before us are
rather
uncomfortable for structures and persons” he also added.
The Archbishop explained the road map of the Holy Father Pope
Benedict
XVI for the Year of Faith: to study in details the Apostles’
Creed and
the Catechism of the Catholic Church; to intensify the witness
of
charity; to study the history of one’s own faith and in
particular to
see how holiness and sin co-exist.” He encouraged the people
“Study
your faith; share your faith; witness your faith.”
Finally he encouraged the priests and religious “to pay
attention to
people; why they say things rather than what they say.” In the
Year of
Faith, parish priests are encouraged to give priority to
teaching
catechism to the faithful in parishes.
The Archdiocese of Yangon has 81,900 Catholics in 39 parishes.
There are 98 priests, 310 religious and 14 lay catechists.