Card Bo, Eucharistic Congress: Evangelizing via dialogue with religions, cultures, poor
The Burmese cardinal and papal legate outlines the objectives of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress, held in Cebu. In the continent “crossroads” of the world religions, the “spiritual fervor” is a resource for the mission. The support of the pinoy Catholic Church to Myanmar. The need for justice in terms of economy and environment.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - “Asia is a confluence of major religions”, a part of the world that “has not embraced secularism as the West has done. And spiritual fervor witnessed at the community level is a way of evangelizing the others”. This is the way cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archibishop of Yangon (Myanmar) and papal legate for the event, introduces the 51st International Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Cebu, Philippines on 24-31 January 2016, on the theme: “Christ in you, our hope and glory” (Col. 1:27). According to the first cardinal of the history of burmese Church, the event will be occasion to work in three directions. “Dialogue with religions, with culture, and poor”. “Asia remains a common task for the church - he said - so the challenge is to see what is God saying through these realities”.
The celebration of the Congress in the Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, is a major challenge to strengthen the missionary perspective. The theme revolves around the “hope” that joins the task of “the gift of God for young people” and “commitment to the ranks of the poor of the continent”.
Cardinal Bo’s interview with AsiaNews follows:
Eminence, how is or can be important this Congress for the Asian society?
Asia is a confluence of major religions. This part of the world has not embraced secularism as the west has done. Spiritual fervor witnessed at the community level is a way of evangelizing the others, showing how the Christians as a community and individuals draw benefits from their Christian tradition.
Philippines has been a great nation – one of the largest Catholic Population both in Asia and in the World. It is surrounded by Islamic societies. It does have problem with its Southern Muslims. This conference hopes to open the doors of dialogue with other religions. In the year of Mercy, this congress will try to get Catholics to assume the attitude of mercy not judgment in the personal and church level.
Which contribution can give to its development?
The main aim is to entrench the Eucharistic celebration as the source and summit of Spiritual tradition ( Lumen Gentium). But the aim is to deepen the social Mission. Eucharist, as per the great Popes, Pope Benedict and Saint John Paul II leads the Christians towards social mission. Asia is a continent of diverse religion and the reality of poverty. It is also arena of environmental injustice. This conference will highlight the common issues of humanity in Asia and work out a common strategy for facing the twin dangers of economic injustice and environmental injustice.
In which way this congress can give a contribution to the mission of the Church in Asia?
Three fold dialogue needs to be continued in Asia.
First: Dialogue with religions. Asian reality is soaked in spiritual experience. How can we mutually learn and enrich one another with the spiritual wealth of each tradition. Christianity can learn eastern way of approaching God, in silence, in meditation, in its respect for animals and nature. “Laudato Si” is a good starting point of dialogue among religions.
Secondly: Dialogue with Cultures. Asia – south Asia and South East Asia - is a great rainbow mosaic of cultures. These cultures have lived in harmony with nature and one another and a deep sense of spirituality, which often was denigrated as animism. Many of these people have embraced the message of Christ. The Christ of these people need to be understood into their ethos and language. A rich tradition awaits Christ’s message and it has to be given in the way these people understand .
Third: Dialogue with the Poor. Asia is home to millions of poor. Poverty is the common religion of thousands. Human trafficking, unsafe migration and modern forms of slavery continue to be threat to human dignity. As the Pope says “ church needs to be poor church serving the poor” Eucharist congress needs to address the great irony of the words : “Take and eat” when thousands will not really eat every day in this continent.
Card Bo, which are in your opinion the Burmese Church the main points of this event?
This is a great honor to the Myanmar church. Holy Father Pope Francis, who has always have a ‘ perspective from the Margin’ chose a Cardinal from this small country with a small population of Christians. This year he has delegated his honor of guiding a Eucharistic Congress to this little flock. This is a very humbling experience. But the Church Philippines has been a great supporter of us the last three decades and it is our humble duty to return those services. Myanmar rises from a dark past. Eucharist is the centre of our people’s life. Eucharist is also a demand for Justice, a table fellowship of all. We hope the new government will commit itself to share the bread of reconciliation, bread of healing and bread of human development. Just a month after this Congress, the Myanmar church will have a national seminar on “ Church Challenges and Opportunities in a new Myanmar. We hope to identify areas where we can share the bread of justice, the bread of peace, the bread of Human development and the bread of integrity of creation.
Which are the future tasks of the evangelization?
Future prospects are already articulated. Environmental justice and Economic Justice will be new avenues of the evangelization. Our people need Justice, Our people need Peace and our people need human development. Our people need to own their natural resources. These are some of the social needs. Pastoral and spiritual needs to be deepened in our people. They should become the evangelizers. Empowering the Evangelized to be evangelizers is our task in Asia.
What are your personal expectations for this event/congress?
This event will deepen the Eucharistic faith of our people. Every Mass we break the word and break the bread. I do hope the love of the Eucharist may lead our people to bring the Bible as the centrality of their life. The Emmaus disciples, after sharing the meal with the Lord, rushed into proclaim the Lord. We do hope Eucharist will inspire people to become apostles in their personal life. We hope that the choice of the place –Philippines – where natural disasters brought lot of agony, will prove to an event of fellowship of the church with this nation. We also hope that the huge gathering of Catholic Church in Asia will prove to be a ‘ light set on the mountain’ giving greater visibility to the Socio Pastoral Mission of the Church in Asia.
John Paul Ii said that Asia is “our common task” for the Third Millennium: this congress is a new step in this direction?
Asia remains a common task for the church. Not only evangelizing Asia but being evangelized by Asia. It is the home to major religions. The biggest Hindu country in the world is here. The biggest Muslim country is in the world is here. Buddhism has a greater hold on the South East Asian People. Market economy has penetrated countries like Singapore, Japan. So the challenge is to see what is God saying through these realities.
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22/01/2016 15:34
