HONG KONG (AsiaNews): It was a life-long apostolate for Father Giovanni I. Giampietro of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. He was and he was active to the very end, not only in the community of St. John the Baptist in Kwun Tong, where he resided, but also in the frontier of Internet-based pastoral care.
In 2005 he started the School of Online Evangelisation organising online catechesis and evangelisation tracts in Cantonese and Putonghua, with a particular focus on those in the Chinese diaspora struggling to find communities that spoke their own language.
Father Giampietro always remained very attentive to young people, In 2019, he worked with them to promote a musical on the life of Father Matteo Ricci, the great Jesuit evangeliser of Ming Dynasty China.
This initiative was the result of more than two years of work, in which he involved famous producers, directors and actors from Hong Kong and Singapore, and which—brought to the stage—attracted tens of thousands of spectators [Sunday Examiner, 28 April 2019].
Ricci helped me to see the presence of God in the Chinese people… Ricci listened and learned from the Chinese, without confusing faith with European cultures. From him I learned to have a hlgh regard for Chinese culture. Like Matteo Ricci I wish to spend my life for the Chinese, and to remain in this land until my death’
Father Giampietro
The school of evangelisation itself had come about through Christian music. “Many young people in Hong Kong have relatives abroad. Sometimes almost the whole family,” he explained. “Through their contacts, these young music enthusiasts found that other Chinese youth were doing the same thing especially in Australia and New Zealand. After a few years of contacts over the Internet, it was decided to organise a concert with all these groups here in Hong Kong. Modern Chinese songs, but imbued with Christian spirit. It was a great success. So much so that our Hong Kong people later went to Canada. From there the EV Concert [Evangelisation Concert] format was born: recitations, songs, sharing, testimonies. It was simply about doing evangelisation, but through music with young people and for young people.”
Through these contacts, Father Giampietro and his collaborators realised that in many communities in the Chinese diaspora there were no catechists or other people able to accompany those who wanted to prepare for baptism.
Photo: Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions
Thus the online school of evangelisation was born: a two-year distance learning course that provides Catholic cathchesis in the first year and concrete evangelisation activity in the second. Each week material is provided for about three hours of study in total.
“It is not always easy for priests to accept this solution. They would like to see people physically every week,” Father Gianni explained. “But in some cases it is not possible, especially for work or travel reasons. I remember a case in Australia. The person concerned was in jail for illegal immigration. He had met pastoral workers who were visiting the prison. But how could he have participated in the catechumenate in the parish? Not to mention all those whom parishes and catechists cannot reach.”
After 65 years as a missionary in Hong Kong, Father Giampietro died on June 11 at the age of 89.
