(RVA News): Four Chinese bishops visited Belgium from September 7 to 9 at the invitation of Jozef Cardinal De Kesel, president of the Verbiest-Louvain Foundation, and retired archbishop Mechelen-Brussel.
Bishop Jozef Guo of Chengde, Bishop Paul Pei from the Pine Tree missions, Bishop Cui of Wuhan, and Bishop Liu Xinghong of Anhui, were part of the delegation.
The visit, organised by the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation, marked the resumption of exchanges between the churches of Belgium and China.
On September 8, the four bishops, accompanied by members of the Verbiest Foundation, were guests of Cardinal De Kesel.
After lunch, they had a consultation together, celebrated the MASS, and presented the Chinese translation of his book, Faith and Religion in a Secular Society.
On September 9, the bishops visited the provincial house of Scheut in Anderlecht, and the tomb of Father Theofiel Verbiest, who founded the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary [CICM].
They commemorate the 679 Scheut Fathers who followed their founder to northern China from 1865 to 1949, of whom 252 are buried in China.
After visiting Belgium, the bishops made two stopovers in the Netherlands and then travelled to Paris from September 12 to 15.
The Chinese bishops had obtained authorisation from the Chinese government to negotiate the resumption, after the Covid-19 pandemic, of the intensive exchange programme with the Church in China that the foundation has organised in Louvain for 40 years.
The bishops also wish to relaunch training sessions for priests, religious, and laity in China.
Since 2015, the foundation has organised intensive training sessions in Chinese on pastoral care, catechesis, social teaching, and spirituality as taught by Vatican II. The Verbiest Foundation, founded 40 years ago by Father Jeroom Heyndrickx, feels ready to continue fulfilling its role in the decades to come.
The visit is an important stepson the path of dialogue and exchange.
