austraLasia #2458

Christ, Congregation, Cancer!

TAIPEI:  10th July -- One of the Region's great men has gone to his reward, thanking God for three great blessings in his life: to know Christ, to be a Salesian and priest - and to have suffered from cancer.  Fr Matthew King died on the evening of 8th July in Taipei, Taiwan. He was 79 years of age.
    Fr King received a Papal medal only this year in recognition of his important work with the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in Rome and advisor to the Holy Father on China affairs.  He will be missed not only at that level but at many other levels in Rome, in his native China, in Taiwan, and in Vietnam.
    From 1963 until 1975 Fr King was amongst the first Chinese Salesian missionaries.  He was assigned to Vietnam where he directed the aspirantate for a number of years then became Director of Novices, a post he held for five years in Vietnam before he was expelled in 1975 along with all foreign missionaries.  He simply took up again in China Province!  From 1978 until 1983 he was Director of Novices in Hong Kong, then continued in the province as vice provincial from 1983-1989.
    In 2003 Fr King came to Rome to work with the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples.
    Few would face death with such an attitude as Fr King expressed in a letter he wrote at Christmas time.  Speaking of the fact that the doctors had 'signed off' on him, in the sense that the colon cancer they discovered was already too advanced to do much more than palliative care, he wrote: "facing this discovery, I felt very happy.  I consider it an absolutely great grace from God that I would have time to prepare myself for God's judgment, and the pain effected by the chemo would shorten my purgatory.  The whole world of my  friendship is praying for my recovery but I prefer they should pray for my willingness to do the will of God".
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Title: australasia 2458
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces CIN VIE  Fr Kin
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2458