Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St. Robert Bellarmine and Chinese Ferdinand 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 St. Robert Bellarmine Faculty of Theology. In the morning session, three keynote speakers: Fr. Jeffrey Chang, Fr. Otfried Chan and Dr. Bibiana Yee-ying Wong shared the insights of their research from the perspective of Catholic theology, the preparatory materials for the 16th General Synod of Bishops, and the historical experience of the Chinese church.

Hsinchu Diocese 2011 Pastoral Conference and 2021 National Evangelization Conference
    The afternoon session, "Responses to the Synodal Process from the Local Church", started with the input of Fr. Bartolomeus Lu (deputy director of the Hsinchu Diocese's Pastoral Office) and Ms. Min-Hui Liu, (Leader of the Pastoral Team), on behalf of Hsinchu Diocese. The 2011 “Hsinchu Pastoral Conference”, the 2021 “National Evangelization Conference" and the "2023 Synod of Bishops" were the main sources for the collection of related materials selected to describe the diocesan goals, principles, processes, and vision. In 2011, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Hsinchu Diocese, a pastoral meeting was specially organized to invite all the people of God in the diocese, clergy and faithful, to think together about the state of the Catholic Church in Hsinchu Diocese, hoping that everyone will join together and discern how to promote the well-being of the diocesan community. Hsinchu Diocese sent a questionnaire developed by scholars and experts to all the clergy and faithful in the diocese to observe and understand the current situation of the pastoral work of the diocese, and to find out the challenges and needs of the pastoral work according to the survey results. The A Pastoral Conference is a process that has Christ at its center and increases each member's sense of belonging and participation in the Church, and deepens each member's evangelization mission.
   At the 2021 National Evangelization Conference, the Diocese of Hsinchu found that the main concerns and areas of focus for most parishes were (1) the distance between the church and the youth, (2) the development of small Christian groups and (3) the search for the “lost sheep”. As the National Evangelization Conference focused on the parishes, most attendees were parish priests, vicars, missionary sisters, lay missionaries and representatives of pastoral councils, while education, medical and other church organizations sent representatives to participate, with a total of 159 participants. The participants were divided into 10 groups to discuss the foreword and various topics of the National Evangelization Conference Working Document. Hopefully, the celebration of this evangelization conference will make the parish full of vitality and attract more people to believe in Jesus Christ.

Hsinchu Diocese shows an example of synodality
   The Diocese of Hsinchu and other dioceses around the world held the opening ceremony of the 2023 Synod of Bishops on October 17, 2021 (Sunday). The preparatory group held a second meeting in 2021 to discuss the addressees, the topics and the schedule. The recipients of the consultation were divided in two categories: within the church (parishes, immigrant workers and religious institutes), and outside the church (education, social welfare, employees of medical institutions). The groups within the church mainly discussed ten core issues, while groups outside the church mainly focused on sharing the strengths and weaknesses of the church, as well as suggestions and expectations for the church. From January to March 2022, the group consultation meetings of parishes, religious groups and institutions took place in presential or online mode (each group had 10 people or less, for a total of 153 “within the church” groups and 50 “outside the church” groups). The meetings included praying time, selection of topics for discussion, listening and sharing of scriptures, discussion and note-taking, final prayer and sending the notes taken. In April, the diocese completed the compilation of minutes sent by each group and organized a comprehensive report.
    At the end of the presentation, the speaker summarized and shared some examples on Hsinchu Diocese's exercise on synodality: 1. Listening together to the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures: Bible sharing in small groups, such as Bible Readers’ groups, the Bible Reading Class, and the Little Rock Bible Reading Class. 2. Listening to each other and discerning together: The Diocesan Pastoral Conference, the Diocesan Conference of the National Evangelization Conference, and the Synod of Bishops are all based on listening to the voices of the grassroots groups of believers. During the Diocesan Pastoral Conference, the bishop fully accompanied, cared, listened, discerned, and finally supported the process. 3. More faithful to participate in the mission of the church: Christ-centered small faith groups nurtured many new members. 4. The diocese gives the deaneries and parishes more authority and they assume more responsibilities: strengthening the deanery teams and the parish pastoral councils, giving them more authority regarding pastoral work and the use of funds, listening together, as a team they listen to the Holy Spirit, discuss and take decisions. 5. Strengthen vertical and horizontal ties between dioceses, deaneries, and parishes through various synodal gatherings. 6. Financial management is more integrated and transparent. 7. The management and connection of the diocesan institutions (social welfare management committee, preschool management committee).

Let go the “egology” (ego ideology) and move forward together
    In the second part of "Responses to the Synodal Process from the Local Church", the organizer invited Sr. Maria Lin (MSC), Vice-Chairman of the Association of Major Religious Women of Taiwan, and major superior of the Missionary Sisters of Sacro Costato, to present the synodal experience from the perspective of the Institutes of Consecrated Life in Taiwan. Sr. Lin started by pointing out that five years after Pope Francis promulgated the encyclical "Laudato Si", the Pope proposed a seven-year “Action Platform for "Laudato Si", calling on all human beings to treat the earth kindly and recognize that all things in the universe are our brothers and sisters; In 2021 the encyclical "Fratelli Tutti" was promulgated, stressing the idea that to achieve world peace we need to develop dialogue and to think of each other as brothers and sisters.
From this groundwork, we can see that the preparation for the 2023 Synod of Bishops and its call to enhance the spirit of "participation, mission and "communion" in the Church is closely related to the encyclicals "Laudato Si" and "Fratelli Tutti".
    Sr. Maria Lin summed up the ten discussion topics of the Synod of Bishops into three aspects: first: journeying together (topic 1), second: breaking through obstacles (topics 2 - 9), and third: fostering the spirit of synodality (topic 10) .
    In order to seek God with sincerity, we must find like-minded companions in our journey. Although there will be many difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing mutual communion, we can take it easy and observe, see, listen, letting God speak, trying to integrate and use the resources of the church and the congregation, expand the dialogue between the church and society and increase cooperation with other Christian denominations. Sister Lin continued his presentation explaining how to share the values of the church with young people, how to identify and decide the feasibility of parish reorganization or merger, how to let go of one’s own ideology, and recognize that we all are journeying together as brothers and sisters.

Two keys to spiritual dialogue
    In this workshop, the organizer specially arranged a period of time for all participants to reflect, talk and examine their own views and perspectives in small sharing groups, and invited 7 facilitators from the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Taipei to accompany the sharing of the participants in each group. Ms. Fang Yuhua (Ignatian Spirituality Center) explained the two keys to spiritual conversation: conscious speaking and active listening, and explained in detail the process of spiritual dialogue in small groups, and how to reach, within the limited time, a consensus among the individuals in the group.

Video broadcast on YouTube network platform
    Finally, the organizers would like to thank Verbiest Association Chairman Prof. Chen Fangzhong, Fr. Francisco Carin, Prof. Ku Weiying and Lect. Joseph Lim for co-hosting the final section of the workshop “Open Discussion and Sharing of Conclusions”, and the Regional Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men and Women in Taiwan as well as the Chinese Christian Spirit Community for their assistance and cooperation in the promotion of this event.
The video content of the afternoon session is hosted on the “Voice of the Catholic Church” YouTube online platform (Mandarin language). Readers are welcome to visit Verbiest Foundation website (in Chinese) for the broadcast and other info.
 
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