Text/Photo Chinese Ferdinand Verbiest Cultural Association
"Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St. Robert Bellarmine [St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology]" and Chinese Ferdinand Verbiest Cultural Association [Verbiest Cultural Association]" co-hosted the 4th Workshop in the Spirituality of Dialogue on May 28, 2022 (Saturday) - "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission" at the premises of Fujen's St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology. The "Integral Human Development team of the Regional Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men and Women in Taiwan [AMRSMW-IHD]" and the "Chinese Christian Spirit Community" were also invited to cooperate in the organization and promotion of the event. The workshop was opened by Fr. Jeffrey GarLok Chang SJ, (Dean of St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology and Director of Master studies), and Prof. Chen Fang Zhong (Chairman of the "Verbiest Cultural Association" and Professor of History Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts of Fu Jen Catholic University). Three speakers had their presentation in the morning session regarding the fulfilment of synodality in the church: Father Jeffrey Chang, Father Otfried Chan and Dr. Huang Yiying, shared on the topic from the perspectives, respectively, of Catholic theology, the content of the preparatory materials for the Synod on Synodality, and the historical experience of the Chinese church. In the afternoon, Fr. Bartolomeus Lu, Deputy Director of the Pastoral Office of the Hsinchu Diocese, Ms. Liu Min-Hui, the Head of the Hsinchu Diocese’s Pastoral Team (on behalf of Hsinchu Diocese), and the superior of the Missionary Sisters Del Sacro Costato Sister Maria Lin MSC (on behalf of the AMRSMW) shared on the processing and content of the Synod materials received from the local churches in Hsinchu diocese, and from the different religious congregations on Taiwan. The final stage of the workshop was entrusted to the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Taipei to lead all the participants to share in small groups the insights and inspirations awaken throughout the different presentations. The Q&A time, general discussion and conclusions of the workshop were facilitated by Father Francisco Carin (director of Verbiest Cultural Association), 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 (Chinese secretary of the board of directors of the Leuven Verbiest Foundation).
United in the Lord in a synodal journey toward eternal lifeBefore the workshop started, Father Otfried Chan, secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Taiwan, led a prayer using the "Prayer for the Synod of Bishops", asking the Holy Spirit to teach us how to discern the path that we should take, united as one, upholding the truth, practicing justice, walking together, and journeying towards eternal life. Afterwards, Father Jeffrey Chang on behalf of the hosting institution, welcomed all participants and encouraged everyone to continue to follow Jesus Christ and realize the mission of communion and participation in the church; he said that the cooperation between the organizer and the co-organizers is in itself a practical example of walking together, demonstrating the Christian spirit of spreading the Gospel together.
Professor Chen Fangzhong as chairman of the "Chinese Ferdinand Verbiest Cultural Association" -co-organizer of this workshop, mentioned in his opening speech that in the history of the early church, the spirit of “synodality” was the ideal face of the church at that time, but from St. Paul's Epistles and the Acts of the Apostles it can be understood that the early church also had its share of various disputes and difficulties, so our present church can move towards the ideal of synodality just like the early church did. When we talk about synodality, we must put the love of Jesus Christ in the middle, and only in communion with Jesus Christ can we truly let go of our differences and selfish desires, and be willing to serve others.
The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, is communion in Jesus ChristIn the first part of the morning, Fr. Jeffrey Chang, gave a lecture on "A Synodal Church: United in Christ, Walking in the Spirit". Fr Chang started stating the invitation that Pope Francis made to the Church to be "a Church that embodies synodality with communion, participation and mission", by reflecting on the life and mission of the Church. Following the "renovation" proposed by the Second Vatican Council, we can use this journey of fellowship to learn experiences and methods that can help us to live in communion, participate together, and open our hearts to accept and carry out the God’s mission for the Church. Father Chang also elaborated on the notion of "Synodality". It refers directly to the meaning of the church; the "synodality" we are invited to reflect on is the essence of the church, not a new idea. A synodal church should be embodied in a concrete way that can be seen, heard, and touched, it isn’t just a good feeling. The word "council" refers us to "meeting", "church", "assembly", etc. The Church of Christ manifests its essence by meeting and discussing together.
A synodal Church should implement the innovations advocated by the Second Vatican Council in terms of "communion", "participation" and "mission". Father Chang emphasized that during the Council, the sense of communion within the Church was very prominent. Vatican II "Church Charter (Lumen Gentium) No. 4 affirms: “The Church, which the Spirit guides in way of all truth (see: Jn 16, 13) and which He unified in communion and in works of ministry, He both equips and directs with hierarchical and charismatic gifts and adorns with His fruits”. (cf. Eph. 4, 11-12; 1 Cor. 12, 4; Gal 5, 22) Vatican II envisions the Church as the body of Christ, a body that is in communion with Jesus Christ. According to the epistles of the Apostle Paul, in the building up of Christ's Body various members and functions have their part to play. There is only one Spirit who, according to His own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives His different gifts for the welfare of the Church. (cf. 1 Cor 12, 1-11). There are different members and different charisms in the church. Although the charisms are different, they are all given by the same Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we are the Mystery of Christ, we should walk together, because one body cannot be divided.
We are all called to participate in and undertake the mission of proclaiming the Good News
Fr Jeffrey Chang also mentioned in his keynote speech that the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) also emphasizes that the church is composed of individual members, and everyone has to participate. All members of the Church, every Christian, whether religious, clergy or lay person, are called to sanctification and are called to share in the mission of the Church. We have entered the age of the faithful, and we should always reflect on how we actively participate in the church, how to consciously and actively join in church liturgy and Christian life with all our heart, all our strength all our mind, and use our shared experience to witness Jesus Christ. When explaining the meaning of "mission", Father Chang explained: A journeying church is inherently missionary, and spreading the Gospel is the basic duty of the People of God and the essence of the church. Therefore, we need to undertake this mission of proclaiming the Good News in every possible way.
Video broadcast on YouTube network platform
Thanks to the support of “Catholic Weekly”, we will publish the content of other speakers of the workshop one by one in the periodical. At the same time, we would like to thank the “Voice of the Catholic Church” for assisting in the on-site video recording on May 28 and the “Kuangchi Program Service” for the post-production work of the video. The video content of the first session will be hosted on the“Voice of the Catholic Church” YouTube online platform on July 5 and for the next three weeks the other sections will be added. You are welcome tolink to the recorded session through the website of Verbiest Foundation (in Chinese), or by directly scanning the QR code of the Voice of Catholicism (same link) to watch the videos of the "4th Workshop in the Spirituality of Dialogue. For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”.
