HONG KONG (SE): Following complaints from the participants in the Hong Kong diocesan synod about not being given enough time to adequately consider the topics chosen for discussion, the diocese has announced that the consultation period has been extended by almost 3 months.

During the 3rd Pleanary Assembly of the Diocesan Synod on July 8, attended by Cardinal John Baptist Wu, Bishops Joseph Zen and John Tong, Father Dominic Chan announced that the consultation period would be leng-thened by a month for further consultation and work on the first draft and then another month-and-a-half would be allowed for preparing the second draft.

At the meeting, the synod delegates presented summaries of their discussions on the 7 topics chosen for consideration during the diocesan synod. The seven topics chosen from a long list of subjects affecting the life of the church in Hong Kong today were: Formation of the Laity and Lay Ministry; Youth Ministry; Social Concern; Evangelization; Marriage and Family Pastoral Care; Education and Culture; Vocations and the Continuing Formation of Diocesan priests. Other topics, such as inter-religious dialogue, were either excluded or incorporated in a more general way into the 7 topics above so as to prevent the discussions becoming too general and waylaid by a multitude of issues, organisers said.

Early this year the synod delegates, representing parishes, diocesan bureaux, religious congregations, the clergy and other Catholic organisations, presented a long list of topics to Cardinal Wu, who then chosen 7 for discussion. Subsequently the delegates were divided into 7 groups with each group focusing its attention on one of the topics. After months of regular meetings and discussion of the topics the groups presented their first draft of conclusions.

The first drafts will be made available for public review at three forums to be held on July 23, August 12 and September 2 (see page 2 for details).

Copies of the drafts will also be available at parishes and on the diocesan Web site (www.catholic.org.hk). During the plenary assembly, Bishop Zen urged the Catholic faithful to send in their comments and suggestions. The public may feel free to “throw stones and tomatoes (at the diocese) through the web,” Bishop Zen said. The views of the public will later be included in reviewed drafts of the synod documents.

During the July 8 meeting, which was also attended by Orthodox Metropolitan Nikitas, Anglican Bishop Peter Kwong and Rev. Tso Shui-wan of the Hong Kong Christian Council, Bishop Tong announced that a special ad hoc committee of English-speaking Catholics had been set up to run parallel to the synod. The committee was established after the diocese received complaints about the lack of representation of English-speaking, especially Filipino, Catholics in the synod. The ad hoc committee will consider the special needs of English-speaking faithful in the diocese, which make up a third of all Catholics. The conclusions of the committee, Bishop Tong said, might be incorporated into the final synod document.

In the first draft of the document on Social Concern, the delegates questioned whether the church in Hong Kong was truly a church of the poor and for the poor. The group said it had run short of time and had suffered many limitations. It admitted that it was not able to adequately consider how the church should deal with issues such as homosexuality, women and prisoners. In its presentation, the group urged the diocese to make addressing the growing gap between rich and poor in Hong Kong a priority.

Surprisingly, in the first draft on Marriage and Family Pastoral Care there was a noticeable absence of frank and realistic discussion on the controversial subjects of contraception and abortion. However, the group considered in some depth the challenges facing married couples in Hong Kong today, such as extra-marital affairs, divorce and the pressures on the family.

The group considering Lay Ministry was critical of the lack of lay participation in the running of parishes and urged the diocese to allow the laity greater responsibility in the face of a vocations shortage.

In Education and Culture, the delegates stressed the need for Catholic schools to give greater attention to teaching children to appreciate the "fine elements of Chinese culture" and discover their roots.