A colloquium on “The Challenges of the Mission in Asia” was organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Saint John Paul II’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, at the Pontifical Urban University, on December 18-19, 2019, announced the Vatican Missionary Agency Fides, which presented the subjects of the interventions.
The colloquium, entitled “Transforming Asia,” was organized in partnership with the Saint Bonaventure-Seraphicum Pontifical Faculty of Theology, the Pontifical Urban University, and the Pontifical Missionary Union.
In the course of its first session, it analyzed the state of Evangelization in the societies of South-East Asia.
The works were opened by Professor Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen OFM Conv., President of the Saint Bonaventure Pontifical Faculty of Theology and Director of the Franciscan Institute of Asian Theological Studies.
Father Gianni Criveller, of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions of Milan (PIME), spoke on the “Anthropological and Social Transformations in Asia in the Contemporary Era.”
Father Joseph Nguyen Tat Thang, OP, reflected on the “Tendencies of Catholic Religious Life in the Churches of South-East Asia.”
Father Fabrizio Meroni (PIME), Secretary-General of the Pontifical Missionary Union, moderated the following interventions.
Father Paulus Y Pham outlined the “Vietnamese Perspectives on Ecclesia in Asia.”
Father Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD, spoke on the “Challenges that the Christian Mission Must Address in Indonesia.”
To Father Francis Yongho, OFM was entrusted a “Buddhist Reflection on Franciscan Spirituality,” according to the method of Comparative Theology in the light of Ecclesia i Asia.
The second day will concentrate on an analysis of the Christian mission in Indian society on one hand and Chinese society on the other.
Father Gaetano Sabetta will talk on the “Christian Religious Perspectives in Face of Asian Perspectives: Needs, Possibilities and Limits of the Dialogue.”
Mrs. Elisa Giunipero will recall “The Agreement between the Holy See and The People’s Republic of China: Development and Challenges.”
Finally, a look on South Asia will be carried out through the analysis of contexts such as India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
