By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
The Taizé meeting for East Asian Youth in Hong Kong held from May 2 to May 5 under the theme, “Hope Beyond All Hope”, came to a successful conclusion with the blessing of our Heavenly Father, the presence of Christ, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We thank the Lord and praise him for the service of all the organising committee members and collaborators, the generosity of all the host families and organisations, and the commitment of all the participants. Apart from gratitude, I was most touched by the hope I saw in the young people who attended the gathering.
I remember when Brother Han-yol came to visit Hong Kong two years ago in 2023, he mentioned that after the large Taizé Youth Gathering held in Hong Kong in 2018, there had been no further gatherings after the pandemic, and we all agreed that we had to plan and organise again. In this world of challenges and difficulties, we needed to regain hope. During my visit to Taizé in August 2023, I spoke with the then-superior, Brother Alois, and the friars, and discussed the plan to organise a Taizé Youth Gathering in 2025 in Hong Kong. It was only natural that in August 2024, when the diocese set up the preparation committee for the Celebration of the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 and the 80th Anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, that the Taizé gathering was chosen to be one of the Jubilee events. As the theme of the Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope”, the members of the group linked the theme of the gathering to “hope”.
By October 2024, I formally invited members of Taizé Hong Kong [a community promoting Taizé prayer in Hong Kong after their three-month stay in Taizé] to help organise the event. Amid our busy schedules, even important decisions had to be made through Zoom meetings. It was not until Brother Han-yol came to Hong Kong again in December 2024 that it was confirmed that the gathering would be co-organised by the Taizé Community, the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui and the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, and that it would be held in the Sheng Kung Hui All Saints” Cathedral, the Wah Yan College in Kowloon, and St. Ignatius” Chapel from May 2 to 5.
At the end of December 2024, some young people and I went to Estonia to attend the European Youth Gathering organised by the Taizé Community. We read the letter written by the new superior, Brother Matthew, on the theme of “Hope beyond all hope”. I thought the theme and idea were very good, and with Brother Matthew”s approval, the theme of the gathering in Hong Kong, “Hope Beyond All Hope”, was formally decided.
From October 2024 to May 2025, the the preparation team sacrificed a lot of time after work to take care of all the matters wholeheartedly. Although it was tough, it was a journey full of love, grace, gratitude and unity, which made us persevere in our efforts. During these four days, I saw more than 300 young people from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong who were very much involved in the ecumenical prayers held three times a day, Bible sharing and workshops, which was really touching, showed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Once when I greeted some young people after lunch, I realised that the six of them came from six different Christian denominations, and the image of “unity in communion” came to life before my eyes, and I was deeply touched by the feeling of thanksgiving at that moment. I had many opportunities to interact with the young people. As I listened to their sharings and confessions, and I could really feel their trust in the pastors. I was touched by their true feelings. There were so many beautiful moments during these days that even after two weeks, I still remember them vividly. And I feel that all these were God”s blessings, whether for me, or for the participants, or for the organising team, or for the volunteers.
Originally, we arranged this gathering in the hope that through prayer, learning and sharing, we could bring hope to the young people and rekindle their hope. However, after these few days, I realised that it was not that we organisers who brought hope to them, but that we saw in them hope and “hope beyond all hope”— God. Because they all love and trust the Lord, we saw the presence of the Lord and the power of ecumenical prayer in them.
Laudate omnes gentes Laudate Dominum
