5th Synod meeting targets priests

HONG KONG (SE):The Fifth General Meeting of the Diocesan Synod was held at the Diocesan Centre on Easter Monday.

Attending the meeting were 146 members who gathered to discuss the topic of Group Seven -- Vocation and the Continuing Formation of Priests.

The meeting was convened by Cardinal John Baptist Wu, Bishop Joseph Zen, Bishop John Tong, Father Dominic Chan, Dr. John Chen and the three Leaders of Group Seven, Fr Joseph Yim Tak-lung, Fr Peter Leung Tat-choy and Sister Anna Maria Kwan.

Father Yim introduced the third draft of the group's report and asked those present to comment on its points.

More than 10 Religious and lay persons spoke on the draft and proposed amendments.

Father Giovanni Giampietro said that in his view priests should concentrate more on pastoral and lay formation work. Father Anthony Chang suggested that priests who come from the masses should return to serve the masses and that they should work to promote unity in the church.

Sister Judith Yuen proposed that priests sharing a house should get together for meals and pray regularly together so as to reduce personal stress and strengthen the bond of their fraternal communion.

Father Francis Tse said the diocese should encourage retired priests who have worked for many years in pastoral work to write down their experiences for the benefit of younger priests.

Before lay people are accepted into parish work, Father Patrick Sun said, their professional training and skills should be considered. If they are not properly trained, putting them to pastoral work could be counter-productive, he said.

Chow Yuen-han from St. Francis Church in Ma On Shan said that the draft showed how heavy the responsibilities of a priest were and that this could prove to be a deterrent for young people considering a vocation. The diocese should consider reducing the workload of priests, she added.

Parish priests should encourage their parishioners to study theology and undergo spiritual training to strengthen their faith, said So Suk-yin from Holy Cross Church.

Due to the large number of proposed amendments, the convenors held an emergency meeting during a recess. The convenors then proposed that, due to the pressure of time, proposals from the floor be passed to a sub-committee and voted on later.

The meeting resumed in the afternoon when individual proposals were voted on one by one. Members could state whether they agreed, did not agree or abstained from voting on the proposals. The proposals were adopted when they attracted the most votes.

Bishop Zen explained repeatedly that an abstention vote would be taken as agreement to the proposals. Those members who voted under this category were told that they could send in their written amendments but with the implied agreement that the right to accept such written amendments lay with the sub-committee. However, the final result was that all the proposed amendments were adopted by majority votes.

The sixth and the seventh synod meetings are scheduled to be held on April 30 and May 1 at the same venue.