Every parish is composed of people who love the Church but wonder whether their experience is heard, whether their gifts are needed and whether they can help shape its future. The launching of “Journeying Together in Synodality” by the diocese on September 19, followed by the Diocesan Assembly in February 2027, offers a hopeful answer. Hong Kong is preparing for a new way of listening, discerning and serving together.
This invitation comes at a timely moment. The 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, concluded in Jakarta on July 26, calling on the Churches of Asia to become “bridges and bridge-builders” through synodal conversion. Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J., served on the committee that drafted its final message. The assembly insisted that synodality is not merely a method but conversion directed towards mission, beginning in transformed hearts and relationships before reaching structures.
Hong Kong has made significant progress. In 2022, its diocesan synthesis report to the Holy See was followed by engaging 16 focus groups in 2024. These groups included members of the Curia, priests, pastoral teams, deaneries, educators, and ministries dedicated to supporting migrants, workers, and families. Together, they highlighted three important priorities: experiencing and understanding synodality, empowering women in the Church’s life and mission, and embracing formation through a synodal approach [Sunday Examiner, August 2].
The September launch must bring these priorities into parish life. It should help Catholics learn prayerful “conversation in the Spirit,” listen across differences and recognise the gifts of every baptised person. Its success will not be measured by attendance alone, but by whether communities become more welcoming, collaborative and missionary.
The newly appointed Assembly Preparatory Committee has a meaningful and important role to play. It should create open and transparent ways for people to share their ideas, and ensure fair representation for all. It’s vital that women, young people, migrants, religious, clergy, and laypeople from various language groups are not just symbolic figures but true partners in the process of discernment. Their voices and contributions really matter in shaping the future together.
The FABC assembly also identified directions especially relevant to Hong Kong: hospitality towards migrants, accompaniment of families and young people, mental-health support, responsible use of artificial intelligence, ecological stewardship, interreligious dialogue and stronger lay participation. Our Catholic schools, universities, social services and parishes can become practical bridges across generations, cultures, religions and social divisions. In a city where loneliness, economic pressure, mistrust and political wounds are real, bridge-building must mean patient encounter rather than slogans.
The 2027 Assembly should therefore ask concrete questions. How can parishes include migrant Catholics and linguistic minorities in leadership? How can young people help shape ministry in the digital world? What responsibilities can be entrusted more fully to women and lay professionals? How can Church institutions model transparency, environmental responsibility and care for vulnerable people?
September 19 opens a door, helping everyone walk through it. The hoped-for result is not another document, but a Church that listens before deciding, builds bridges across difference and carries the hope of Christ into every corner of Hong Kong. jose, CMF
