Malaysian Father Xie Qi Long has become the first non-Chinese
Superior General of the Disciples of the Lord religious congregation, a
Chinese language order founded in 1927 by then Apostolic Delegate to
China, Cardinal Celso Costantini.
Father Xie Qi Long, who was provincial superior of the congregation’s
province of Malaysia, was elected at the General Chapter held from 8-12
November, Fides reports.
The General Chapter also confirmed two important decisions regarding
the future of the Congregation: the Chinese language is the official
language of the Congregation; and all the provinces of the Congregation
may welcome vocations which are not of Chinese origin.
Since 1981 the South-east Asian Province had begun to accept
non-Chinese vocations, but this did not cover the whole Congregation.
According to information gathered by Fides, during the five-day
General Chapter the representatives of the Congregation took spiritual
direction from Bishop Joseph Wang Yu Rong, Bishop emeritus of the
Diocese of Tai Chung.
They analysed and shared the present situation of the Congregation in
the context of pastoral care, evangelization, and vocations, etc.
After three rounds of voting, in the presence of Archbishop Joseph
Hong Shan Chuan of Tai Pei and President of the Taiwan Regional Bishops’
Conference, the 28 chapter members from Indonesia, Singapore, Canada,
Malaysia, Italy and the region of Taiwan elected Fr Xie as the new
Superior General, who will begin his term at the end of January 2011.
The Congregation of the “Disciples of the Lord” was founded in 1927
by Card. Celso Costantini (1876-1958), the first Apostolic Delegate to
China (for 11 years, from 1922), and later Secretary of the Congregation
for the Evangelization of Peoples (for 17 years), to promote
evangelization in China by the Chinese.
Thanks to his efforts the first Chinese Catholic university was built
in Fu Ren, which is currently located in Taiwan.
In 1926, Pope Pius XI
consecrated the first six Chinese Bishops at St Peter’s Basilica.
SIC: CTH/ASIA
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