In the afternoon of Tuesday 16 June, Cardinal Mario Grech and Sr. Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ met with the Bishops of the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (C.R.B.C.) - Taiwan in occasion of their ad limina’s visit.
The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the implementation process in the island. On behalf of all the bishops, Mons. John Baptist Keh-mean Lee, bishop of Hsinchu and President of CRBC took the floor to thanks the General Secretariat for its “tireless efforts” and for producing “documents filled with the Holy Spirit and attentive to the signs of the times. These documents have enabled us to journey together in a synodal manner with the entire People of God, embracing a path of listening and dialogue as we strive to fulfil the Church's evangelizing mission in our era”, bishop Lee said.
During the entire synodal process, the Bishops’ Conference in Taiwan has translated all the official documents in both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, allowed millions of Chinese speaking Christian to walk together with the whole Church.
In Taiwan, each diocese has established a Synodality Committee in order to promote and implement this synodal journey. “We have also maintained close communication and cooperation with the Synodality Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC)” bishop Lee said.
Within the dioceses, the Taiwanese bishops have also initiated processes of listening and dialogue in the Diocesan Presbyteral Council and the Pastoral Council. “We earnestly seek to understand more deeply the thoughts and needs of all the faithful. Throughout this journey, we have become increasingly aware that certain essential dimensions require our special attention and commitment: participation in communion, listening and dialogue, communal discernment, transparency and accountability, and the fuller recognition of the role of women. Achieving these goals in a concrete way is by no means easy; indeed, it represents a significant challenge”..
Several dioceses have undertaken programs aimed to help local faithful to better understand and live synodality such as in the diocese of Taichung which renewed the formation team of the seminary to include lay people and religious sister or its ten-years pastoral and evangelization plan which put communal discernment and corresponsability at the core of several activities; or in the diocese of Hsinchu where the "Small Faith Community Development Centre" established in 2022, has trained facilitators in Hsinchu, Taoyuan, and Miaoli (2023-2025) to assist lay organizations in embodying the nature of the Church.
The picture that emerges is that of a local Church which is seeking to develop its own synodal approach, remaining attentive and engaging in dialogue with the various cultures present within its territory.
