HONG KONG (SE): “If there is no dialogue, people from different Christian denominations can only know one another outside a wall,” said Theresa Lumo Kung, a core member of the Focolare Movement in Hong Kong, who helped with the translation of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification into Chinese together with others from different Christian denominations.
The third edition of the Chinese version of the Joint Declaration was recently launched after it was signed by five Christian Churches [Sunday Examiner, May 23]. The coordinator of a team editing the translation, Kung said it was the fruit of ecumenical dialogue and mutual respect.
“We all tried really hard to understand one another, so many problems which seemed difficult at first were finally solved,” Kung told the Kung Kao Po, adding that the translation project, which took around 10 years, was done with the mutual understanding and prayers of the translators from different denominations. She was in dialogue with the representatives from different denominations to help with her interpretation of the original text.
She believes that the ecumenical spirituality of the Focolare Movement, which promotes understanding and the appreciation of differences, helped her to overcome difficulties. This gave her the wisdom to complete the work with her team.
“Our work was to gather the efforts of the experts of different denominations and produce a Chinese version that we can all accept, that shows our consensus. The process was quite smooth because we work together with mutual appreciation,” Kung explained.
‘Our work was to gather the efforts of the experts of different denominations and produce a Chinese version that we can all accept, that shows our consensus. The process was quite smooth because we work together with mutual appreciation’
Theresa Kung
As an external secretary of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission, she also organised retreats and spiritual gatherings for the volunteers during the Christian Unity Week as she believes prayer and friendship can help to break down the walls between people.
While working for ecumenism, she was especially inspired by a pilgrimage to look at the roots of the Reformation in 2017, when marking its 500th anniversary.
A total of 24 people from different denominations arrived at Wittenberg, Germany, and then went to Trent, Italy, where the Council of Trent (1545 to 1563) took place.
During their visit to the Vatican, they had an audience with Pope Francis. It was heartening for her to witness representatives from Protestant Churches receive blessings and encouragement from the pope along with Catholics.
She believes the trip strengthened the fraternity among the Christian denominations in Hong Kong. She recalled that as Protestant friends joined Masses and Catholics joined the Protestant, Lord’s Supper, mutual acceptance was shown. ‘But I was sad that we could not receive the same Eucharist together, which reminded us to work harder for ecumenism’
Kung, as one leaders of the trip, brought participants to visit different groups in Europe that are involved in promoting ecumenism. In Italy, the representatives also visited different Focolare Movement centres to learn about ecumenical spirituality.
She believes the trip strengthened the fraternity among the Christian denominations in Hong Kong. She recalled that as Protestant friends joined Masses and Catholics joined the Protestant, Lord’s Supper, mutual acceptance was shown. “But I was sad that we could not receive the same Eucharist together, which reminded us to work harder for ecumenism.”
Sometime in 1960s, Kung joined a youth gathering of the Focolare Movement with her secondary school classmates. She appreciated the movement for its care for the spirituality of young people. She later joined the movement after it set up its first centre in Hong Kong. In 1973, she went to Lupiano, Italy, to receive formation. She had thought about entering the convent, but changed her mind with the hope of journeying with the laity to face the trials of secular life.
In Lupiano, members of the Focolare Movement were required to lead a community life with the spirit of the gospel. She recalled that they were told to work in factories, for example, to produce statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary or do a task they might not like. The arrangements helped them learn to surrender themselves completely to Jesus.
She remembered that there was a girl who kept whistling and she did not like her frivolous manners. But when Kung was sick in Lupiano, it was the same girl who took the best care of her and the friendship let her abandon her prejudice against people.
Kung returned to Hong Kong in the 1980s. She then became the secretary for the Chinese province of the Society of Jesus, being engaged in the translation of Church documents. She never expected that the experience in translation enabled her to contribute to ecumenism.
