CIN and
ITM/Indonesia: 23 October
2013
-- The
Beatification of Stephen Sandor, Salesian Brohter and now
declared a
Martyr for the Faith, was celebrated in Budapest Cathedral
in Hungary
on 19 October. There may well have been celebrations to
honour this
event in other parts of the region, and in a very recent
letter to
regionals, the Rector Major has epxressed the wish that
there be
something along these lines - he is particularly happy with
what has
occurred in China Province which has a certain
'fellow-feeling' with
the circumstances of Blessed Stephen Sandor's road to the
altar. He
will be equally pleased, no doubt, with what has happened in
the
Delegation of Indonesia.
China
Province decided to organise a series of contemporary events
in Hong
Kong, Macau, Taipei and Tainan at about the same time that the
Beatification was taking place in Budapest. It went
something along
these lines:
In all four places there was a presentation of the life of
Brother
Sandor by a Salesian Brother, or more than one, who was
well-prepared
for this. The Salesian Family was invited, there were
opportunities to
share, and then a Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated. The
pan-province
aspect of it was coordinated by the vice province Fr Andrew
Fung.
Hong Kong: the event took pace at St Anthony's, and Cardinal
Zen was the main celebrant of the Thanksgiving mass.
Macau: the bishop of Macau José Lai was the main
celebrant at Yuet Wah College.
Taipei: St John Bosco's Parish - emeritus Bishop and Salesian
Cooperator Joseph Ti Kang.
Tainan: Mary Help of Christians Parish, where the Provincial,
Fr Lanfranco Fedrigotti was main celebrant.
In HK Cardinal zen drew an analogy between Blessed Sandor and
the
Salesian Priests and Brothers in Mainland China who were put
in jail
for long years last century. "We should treasure the liberty
we still
enjoy, thank God for our precious faith , and ask the saints
in heaven,
like Blessed Sandor, to help us imitate their example, to
become light
and salt to the world", he reminded his listeners.
We have also become aware that the Taiwan Church has begun
moves
towards the beatification of many priests, religious and laity
who
spent years in Communist prisons and died for their faith -
this group
includes Salesians. More about that when there is news
to hand.
In
Indonesia, instead, the main event was at the newly opened
community
for Brothers' Formation in Serpong, West Java (think Jakarta
if you
need a reference point, though it is very much on the
outskirts of that
huge and sprawling city). There are 11 confreres there, 9
Brothers
working on their qualifications at the Serpong Technical
Institute, and
2 priests. They decided to link World Mission Sunday and the
Beatification of our Salesian Martyr, following the lead
presented in
austraLasia on 18 October, which gave a link to the report on
the
Church in Need. That Report named Indonesia as one of the
countries of
concern for potential persecution of the Faith (in certain
areas
especially). The community "prayed for Christians who
have to suffer
for their faith in many mission lands "with a heavy cross on
their
shoulders" - missionaries and people alike!
If there are other celebrations that have taken place or which
are
planned in coming weeks, austraLasia would like to know and
have the
opportunity to report on them.
