Tenth Congress of the Word of God in Chinese (CIN)

By Sr. Maria Ko, FMA

"Witnessing the Word of God, a new Evangelization - Pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved (Mt 9:17)": was the theme of the X world Congress of the Word of God in Chinese, held from January 22 to 26 in Tai Pei. The main aim was to "reflect, share, listen, celebrate, study and to put oneself at the service of the Word of God in the Church, in order to spread the Word of God in the world, so that the Word of God may always be the core of the life and mission of the Church" (Evangelii Gaudiium). The participants presented their pastoral and missionary work, committed to spreading the word of God in the contemporary world through new tools and new technologies, like the Internet, social networks ... Finally they proclaimed 2015 as the "Pastoral Year of the Sacred Scripture. Among the 300 participants were also Card. Joseph Zen, SDB and Sr. Maria Ko Ha Fong, FMA.

“I have accompanied the United Chinese Catholic Biblical Association from the beginning 25 years ago. At the first Congress were present some 30 members, now at the 10th WORLD CONGRESS were some more than 300 participants from 18 different countries. I’m always more convinced that the Word of God is the vital energy resource and the center of communion among all Chinese Catholics scattered all around the world. Indeed the Bible does exercise a strong attraction in the Chinese cultural environment, especially thank to the translation of Blessed Gabriel Allegra, OFM who did a pilot translation of the Bible into Chinese (1968).

In this Congress the three basic documents of the Church Magisterium were moving our reflection – Dei Verbum (Constitution of the Vatican II), Verbum Domini (Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI) and the Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis.

The participants went from four continents, where the Chinese Catholics are living (Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Japan, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand , England, Italy, Germany, Canada) with a twenty participant strong delegation from three different regions in mainland China. This large variety of experiences helps a vibrant exchange of different ways of Bible apostolate. The only regret was a weak participation of young people.

Everybody was grateful for the wonderful hospitality of seven dioceses of Taiwan brothers and sisters offered to all Congress members. Next Congress will be celebrated in Hong Kong in 2019.