http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/ latesten-us Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMTFri, 03 Feb 2012 15:43:08 GMT http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2012/The-first-Pastoral-Letter-of-the-Personal-Ordinariate-of-the-Chair-of-St-Peter-2879/  A Pastoral Letter, the first, of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter in the territory of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, was sent by the Ordinary, Fr Jeffrey Steenson, to Anglican ministers and faithful who have decided to enter into full and visible communion with the Catholic Church. The letter’s aim was to inform and accompany the faithful on this important journey. “The Ordinariate”, it read, “is finally off and running, after much anticipation, work, and prayer. We have just completed a wonderful Formation Weekend in Houston for the priest candidates and their wives for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. With deeply moving contributions from His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, we have begun to take the first steps in preparing a group of very dedicated men for ordination. As the Ordinariate was only established this month, this was our first opportunity to come together in mutual discernment and encouragement. There were many questions asked, and we certainly don’t have all the answers, but we know where to look. The goal of coming into full communion with the Catholic Church orients us in the right direction, and we are joyfully confident of our future. I am deeply moved by the courage and the faith of these men and their wives, who are going to be used by God to contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ”.   On 12 February, Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, and Cardinal DiNardo will take part in the inauguration of the Ordinariate at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. During the celebration, the Ordinary stated in his letter, “I will be invested liturgically with the responsibility of leading the Ordinariate”. Fr Steenson said he was “overwhelmed with the prayers and good wishes of so many in the Catholic faith who have opened their arms and their hearts to us”, and he thanked other Christians who “rejoice to see God’s people listening to and following their consciences. We are now working diligently”, he proceeded, “to lay proper foundations for the Ordinariate, both canonical and civil, and once this has been completed, we expect to be able to receive groups and congregations in the near future”.   To date, there are many questions from faithful who wish to enter the Ordinariate. “There is an information form on the website (www.usordinariate.org)”, concluded the Ordinary, “for those who may wish to explore this further. We are expecting that the Ordinariate will include three categories of corporate membership — parishes, quasi-parishes more commonly known as missions, and smaller groups of people that could be designated public associations of the faithful. All former Anglicans who are now in full communion with the Catholic Church or who are preparing to be received are eligible to belong to the Ordinariate. We will work carefully with the local Catholic bishop to facilitate this process of discernment for those communities who approach us”.   L’Osservatore Romano   Washington,  02-03-2012   EndFri, 03 Feb 2012 15:43:01 GMT2012 http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2012/Hong-Kong-A-bridge-to-a-Challenged-Church-in-China-2880/  “We are so happy for this honour for John Cardinal Tong himself, but mainly for the Church in China, and the whole of China, because Cardinal Tong is himself Chinese and in the last 30 years he has worked for the whole nation”, says Msgr. Dominic Chan, Vicar general of the diocese of Hong Kong, commenting on Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment of the diocesan Bishop, John Tong Hon, to the College of Cardinals. “I think is the sign that the Holy Father and the Vatican is very concerned for the Church in China. You may say that Hong Kong is the biggest Chinese diocese in the world, not only from the geographical and numerical point of view but also from the view of communications with the mainland . So we also feel an even greater duty to mission among us especially in communicating with mainland China and in fostering the Gospel spirit in society”. Msgr. Chan recently oversaw the drawing up of the first Catholic Directory for Hong Kong since its establishment in 1954. The survey revealed a steady growth in the number of Catholics on the island, but at the same time a change in the priests/laity ratio, with just one priest to serve almost 2 thousand believers. The Church is home to an estimated 530 thousand Catholics with two thirds locally baptised, one third Catholics from immigrant communities mainly Filipinos, Indonesians, Vietnamese and South Koreans. “We are not concerned with the quantity, but we are concerned about the quality”, says Msgr. Chan. He notes that in the past, particularly during the 1950’s and ‘60’s many poor people were drawn to the Church because of its pastoral care for the needy. “Now we concentrate on the formation of baptismal candidates, and they must undergo a year of preparation for the Sacrament. We do not doubt the good intentions of people seeking to become part of the Church but we must ensure that their good intentions are followed by a real commitment”. “We had about 300 adults baptised last year, about 6,000 infants. This is the result of a pastoral program that we launched about 8 years ago on evangelisation. We encouraged all faithful to do something more, to introduce and share our faith with other people”. But challenges remain. Msgr Chan speaks of “contradictions” that have crept into the fabric of society in the past decade. He says since the island returned to China in 1997, the role of the Church is increasingly to be a peacemaker and promote greater solidarity in society. “This year we will elect our next Chief Executive. We as Church need to learn how to introduce our Church Doctrine to society, how to influence society in Hong Kong to become more humane and just. Then another major challenge is local vocations, the average age for a priest in Hong Kong is 66, this is also our crisis. We still have a lot of missionaries from all over the world, but we need local vocations”.   2012-02-02 Vatican Radio http://www.news.va/en/news/hong-kong-a-bridge-to-china        Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:42:10 GMT2012