On October 2, 2021, "Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St. Robert Bellarmine [St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology]" and Chinese Ferdinand Verbiest Cultural Association [Verbiest Cultural Association]" jointly held the third workshop in the spirituality of dialogue. It has as theme “Fratelli Tutti”: A call to love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance”. The “Integral Human Development team of the Regional Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men and Women in Taiwan (AMRSMW Integral Human Development team)” was invited as co-host of the event.As the registration for this workshop started while Taiwan was in the epidemic alert stage, the number of participants was limited to comply with the Taiwanese government epidemic prevention regulations; within one week it was full. A total of 80 participants gathered that day, including two distinguished guests, Fr. Jeffrey GarLok Chang SJ, (principal of St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology and director of Master studies), and Prof. Dunhe Yang (executive director of Verbiest Cultural Association), and the five keynote speakers: Fr. Otfried Chan, Fr. Louis Gendron SJ, Sr. Stephana Wei MMB, Fr. Willy Ollevier CICM, and Fr. Elton Fernandes SJ. Each of the speakers focused on Pope Francis encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” from a different perspective, and led the participants to dialogue and share. The Q&A time, General discussion and conclusions of the workshop were facilitated by Prof. Ku Weiying (honorary professor of National Taiwan University, research consultant of the Leuven Verbiest Foundation, and director of Verbiest Cultural Association) together with lecturer Joseph Lim (secretary of the board of directors of the Leuven Verbiest Foundation).
Dialogue in the church to practice the gospel of Jesus Christ
At the start of the workshop, Fr. Jeffrey GarLok Chang led the participants in prayer, using the last paragraph of the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”, asking God to infuse our hearts with a spirit of brother and sisterhood and friendship, and renew our desire to meet, communicate and dialogue, and to inspire us to create a better society and a more dignified world within the framework of justice and peace. In his speech, Fr. Chang specifically stated that already in the 1960s Pope Paul VI encouraged us to dialogue within the church; the Association of Asian Bishops made dialogue outside the church a main focus of its agenda. Pope Francis is now also exhorting us to Synodality, in communion, participation and mission as a living image of the communicative nature of the church that follows Jesus Christ as a community. To achieve this goal, we all need to strengthen our dialogue, to listen to each other, in order to understand and cooperate with each other, so that our church, our world, and all mankind can truly put to practice the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prof. Fangzhong Chen (Professor of History Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts of Fu Jen Catholic University) chairman of the "Verbiest Cultural Association" was unable to attend and appointed the Association Executive Director Prof. Dunhe Yang (former President of Fu Jen Catholic University) give the speech on his behalf. In his speech, he mentioned that this workshop on the spirituality of dialogue focused on the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” of Pope Francis as the starting point; he pointed out that the encyclical is a very “down-to-earth” approach to address the serious political, social, cultural, economic and environmental problems we are facing today as humanity. Love is the basis of our dialogue with others; for a Christian, feeling God’s unique love for each and every one of us, enable in us the will to face those who are different from us, to sit down and understand them, listen to them, and communicate with each other through true dialogue, in order to create a new environment in which everyone can survive.
Brotherhood is the core idea of the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”
Prof. Fangzhong Chen (Professor of History Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts of Fu Jen Catholic University) chairman of the "Verbiest Cultural Association" was unable to attend and appointed the Association Executive Director Prof. Dunhe Yang (former President of Fu Jen Catholic University) give the speech on his behalf. In his speech, he mentioned that this workshop on the spirituality of dialogue focused on the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” of Pope Francis as the starting point; he pointed out that the encyclical is a very “down-to-earth” approach to address the serious political, social, cultural, economic and environmental problems we are facing today as humanity. Love is the basis of our dialogue with others; for a Christian, feeling God’s unique love for each and every one of us, enable in us the will to face those who are different from us, to sit down and understand them, listen to them, and communicate with each other through true dialogue, in order to create a new environment in which everyone can survive.
Brotherhood is the core idea of the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”
The first main topic of the morning was presented by Fr. Otfried Chan (secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Taiwan and the person behind the translation to Chinese of the encyclical). He centered his presentation around the topic "I have seen a new heaven and a new place." He explained the key issues of each chapter in the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti”. This was followed by the presentation of Fr. Louis Gendron (Prof. at St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology and superior of the local Jesuit community); he presented in depth three important themes of the encyclical: "Interpersonal Friendship", "Good Politics", and "Weapon Sales". One main core idea of the encyclical is that political charity is the broadest range of charity, and countries must adopt negotiation, mediation, and arbitration in the face of conflict in order to avoid war. In the afternoon, it was time for the workshops; participants were divided into three groups. Sr. Stephana Wei (Executive Secretary of the AMRSMW Integral Human Development team) was invited to give a lecture on "Fratelli Tutti and Catholic Social Service", and Father Willy Ollevier (pastor at Banqiao’s Chinese Martyr's Shrine) focused on "Fratelli Tutti and Parish Evangelization", and finally, Fr. Elton Fernandes (Director of Ignatius Spirituality Center in Taipei) deepen on the subject "Fratelli Tutti and Faith Spirituality". The rich personal experiences of the presenters helped to realize how “Fratelli Tutti” touches every corner of present human society and the daily life of Christians.
Devising a common vision for the future of human society and the universal church
The workshops on spirituality of dialogue focus in fostering the exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences between the participants, and so all participants had a one-hour group discussion on one of the three themes mentioned above. In the groups, the speakers invited the participants to revisit Pope Francis’ encyclical, to discover the challenging vision of the Christian society he puts forward, and to reflect on how we can turn the Gospel values into concrete faith practices when we face the conundrums of modern society. Just as Fr. Francisco Carin cmf, director of the Verbiest Cultural Association, mentioned when writing the reasons behind organizing this workshop, Pope Francis’s "Fratelli Tutti" encyclical is a tool that invites us to believe that "dialogue" builds human friendship, and encourages us to recognize that when trying to meet each other, it will be faster if we start walking from both ends of the road. "Dialogue" is an inspiring pillar for all the organizing entities: St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology, Leuven Verbiest Foundation and Verbiest Cultural Association; the “workshops on spirituality of dialogue” are a proof to our commitment to promote mutual exchange of ideas and vision as this is, too, the best way to build a common future for humanity including our beloved Catholic church.
Devising a common vision for the future of human society and the universal church
The workshops on spirituality of dialogue focus in fostering the exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences between the participants, and so all participants had a one-hour group discussion on one of the three themes mentioned above. In the groups, the speakers invited the participants to revisit Pope Francis’ encyclical, to discover the challenging vision of the Christian society he puts forward, and to reflect on how we can turn the Gospel values into concrete faith practices when we face the conundrums of modern society. Just as Fr. Francisco Carin cmf, director of the Verbiest Cultural Association, mentioned when writing the reasons behind organizing this workshop, Pope Francis’s "Fratelli Tutti" encyclical is a tool that invites us to believe that "dialogue" builds human friendship, and encourages us to recognize that when trying to meet each other, it will be faster if we start walking from both ends of the road. "Dialogue" is an inspiring pillar for all the organizing entities: St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology, Leuven Verbiest Foundation and Verbiest Cultural Association; the “workshops on spirituality of dialogue” are a proof to our commitment to promote mutual exchange of ideas and vision as this is, too, the best way to build a common future for humanity including our beloved Catholic church.
Finally, in the closing ceremony Fr. Louis Gendron led us in prayer and a text from the founder of the Leuven Verbiest Foundation, Father Jeroom Heyndrickx CICM, was read. In the address, he thanked "Fu Jen St. Charles Borromeo Theological Seminary" and "China Verbiest Cultural Association" for co-hosting this workshop, and acknowledged the co-organizer "AMRMW Integral Human Development team" and the five speakers: Fathers Otfried Chan, Louis Gendron, Willy Ollevier and Elton Fernandes, and Sister Stephana Wei for their valuable contribution for the success of this workshop. We hope that this little effort on our part allows all of us to take a small step in the right direction from the perspective of the Kingdom of God.
Video broadcast on YouTube network platform
We are also very grateful for the assistance given by “Catholic Weekly” for publishing the content of this workshop in a weekly manner. At the same time, we would like to thank "Voice of the Catholic Church" for the on-site recording on October 2nd, and "Kuangchi group" for assisting in the post-production of the video recordings. Since October 19, 2021 the videos are available in the YouTube channels of both media groups. You can find the sessions' recordings (mandarin Chinese) in their respective YouTube channels (Voice // Kuangchi) or go to this Verbiest Foundation webpage for a direct link to each session.
Video broadcast on YouTube network platform
We are also very grateful for the assistance given by “Catholic Weekly” for publishing the content of this workshop in a weekly manner. At the same time, we would like to thank "Voice of the Catholic Church" for the on-site recording on October 2nd, and "Kuangchi group" for assisting in the post-production of the video recordings. Since October 19, 2021 the videos are available in the YouTube channels of both media groups. You can find the sessions' recordings (mandarin Chinese) in their respective YouTube channels (Voice // Kuangchi) or go to this Verbiest Foundation webpage for a direct link to each session.
