Three Chinese bishops and a Chinese laywoman from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are scheduled to attend the Synod on the Word of God, but no mainlander was named to the three-week-long October meeting.Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau, and Agnes Lam Kam-ling, president of the Hong Kong Catholic Biblical Association, are the Chinese papal nominees to the 12th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The Oct. 5-26 event has the theme: The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed 18 cardinals, five archbishops, seven bishops and two priests as synod members, as well as 41 experts and 37 auditors comprising priests, nuns and lay Catholics.
Bishops' conferences, and Religious orders and congregations also elect representatives.
Bishop Lai told UCA News on Sept. 9 that he is soliciting materials from the Macau Catholic Biblical association, including reports on the 2007 assembly of the United Chinese Catholic Biblical Association, held in Macau diocese.
According to the Macau prelate, "such an international conference itself is a promotion of the Bible and has strengthened exchange" among biblical workers in different places.
Lam, who is named as an auditor, told UCA News on Sept. 9 that she would talk about "a simple and effective way to let people living in hectic and sophisticated Hong Kong get in touch with the Word of God."
The laywoman, in her second term heading the local Catholic biblical association, said she might share observations with others on Bible-related developments in mainland China at informal exchanges, but she was unlikely to do so in her formal intervention.
Bishop Peter Liu Cheng-chung of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, who promotes biblical ministry, told UCA News on Sept. 11 that he would represent the Chinese Regional Bishops Conference in Taiwan at the synod and is preparing his speech on "The Word of God in Taiwan."
The 57-year-old prelate, vice president of Taiwan's bishops' conference, said he will talk on "how the Taiwan Church encourages its faithful to read and live out the Bible, and motivates Church communities to attach importance to the Word of God as the core of daily life and source of strength."
In this way, he explained, the local Church works to enable Catholics to possess a sense of mission to share God's Word with others.
Unlike the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist, for which Pope Benedict named four mainland bishops as members of the synod with the right to speak and vote as "a gesture of openness and goodwill" to China, no bishop from mainland China was named this time.
Church sources told UCA News they believed the two sides probably could not agree on which mainland bishops to invite.
Bishop Luke Li Jingfeng of Fengxiang, one of the four mainland bishops the pope invited in 2005, told UCA News on Sept. 12 that local government officials came to him in late August, "concerned that the Holy See had invited me to the upcoming synod."
He told them he expected the pope would invite mainland Chinese bishops as in 2005, because China has millions of Catholics. Although no one from the Vatican contacted him this time, the Chinese officials warned that it was "impossible" for him to go to Rome.
Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar, also invited to the 2005 synod, told UCA News in August that he "hoped not to be named again," as he was greatly disturbed following his invitation in 2005. He explained that Chinese officials rejected his passport application and then checked on him frequently, even though he had not traveled to Rome.
Except for Bishop Wei, the other three bishops invited were government-recognized: Bishop Anthony Li Du'an of Xi'an, who died in 2006, Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian of Shanghai and Bishop Luke Li.
None of the four was able to attend the 2005 synod. Bishop Anthony Li told UCA News at the time that local religious officials said it would be difficult to allow any Chinese bishops to go, since China has no diplomatic ties with the Holy See.
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(Source: IndianCatholic)