HONG KONG (SE): Father Joseph Liu Ah-lun, the parish priest of Holy Cross Parish, Shau Kei Wan, represented the Diocese of Hong Kong in the international meeting of “Parish Priests for the Synod,” from April 28 to May 2 at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, Rome.
The General Secretariat of the Synod, the Dicastery for the Clergy, and the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches co-organised the gathering of “Parish Priests for the Synod,” bringing together over 300 parish priests from around the world for listening, prayer, and discernment.
“The parish priest is a man of the people and for the people. Like Jesus, he is open to the crowd, constantly open to the crowd, to help everyone understand that they are a letter from Christ,” said Mario Cardinal Grech, secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Synod, in opening the event on April 29 morning.
“There is no synod without a bishop, but allow me to say today that there is no synod without a parish priest,” Cardinal Grech told participants on Monday. That is why we felt the need to hold this meeting, and so that we can enrich our preparation in view of the next session of the synod of bishops.”
The encounter was intended to hear about and value the experience of parish priests in their respective local Churches and to offer them an opportunity to experience the dynamism of synodal work at a universal level.
Father Liu urged his parishioners to pray for a fruitful outcome of the meeting. He told the Sunday Examiner on April 29 that after the whole day’s gathering that day, he was happy to see the frank conversations among fellow parish priests, “We really experienced the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our parish life, no matter what the situation is,” he said.
The parish priest is a man of the people and for the people. Like Jesus, he is open to the crowd, constantly open to the crowd, to help everyone understand that they are a letter from Christ,
Cardinal Grech
He shared that he had prepared for this meeting by bringing with him the synthesis of Hong Kong for the Synodal Church issued on 15 August 2022. He was glad to reflect on his own experience in the parish, to share with parish priests worldwide different aspects of parish life, its joys and troubles, with an aim to find the direction of pastoral work in parishes under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
He believes it is a great encouragement to see that Pope Francis is very willing to listen to the voices of people at all levels, especially parish priests, who are at the forefront of the work of the Church. “His listening is the best encouragement. It is also the best example that the supreme pontiff of the Church can give to us parish priests—that a parish priest must have a listening heart,” he said. They were eagerly anticipating the meeting with the pope on May 2.
Father Liu left Hong Kong on April 26 and is scheduled to return on May 4.
The results of the meetings of parish priests will contribute to the drafting of the the Instrumentum laboris, the working document for the Second Session of the Synodal Assembly in October.
The number of participants in the meeting was determined using a criterion similar to that used for the election of the members of the Synodal Assembly. The Latin Rite Church determined the number of its participants based on the number of members in each episcopal conference. In choosing participants, the bishops’ conferences and Oriental Catholic Churches were requested to prioritise parish priests who possess significant experience in the perspective of a synodal Church and to promote diversity in the pastoral contexts of origin such as rural, urban, and specific socio-cultural contexts.
