Background
At the Mission
Sunday on 19 October 2003, Bishop Joseph Zen of the Hong Kong Catholic
Diocese formally announced the beginning of the Year of Evangelization.
The Year of Evangelization is one of the concrete suggestions by Group
Four of the Diocesan Synod on Evangelization to non-Catholics which was
confirmed by the late Cardinal Wu. It is stipulated that the preparatory
period of the Year of Evangelization is from October 2002 to Mission
Sunday 2003, and the implementation period from Mission Sunday 2003 to
Easter 2005. The target of the Year of Evangelization is 10,000 new
Catholics. We appeal to all Catholics in Hong Kong to spread the Good
News to their family members, colleagues and friends.
Preparatory Period
To promote and co-ordinate the work of the Year of Evangelization, the
Hong Kong Diocese has appointed the Central Council of Catholic Laity (HKCCCL)
to set up a Working Group on the Year of Evangelization. Members of the
Working Group include two representatives each from the eight Deaneries,
one representative each from the educational and social service sector,
and six representatives from the HKCCCL, totaling 24 persons. HKCCCL is
responsible for providing
secretarial and accounting support to the Working Group.
The first meeting was held in Nov 2002. With the set up of sub-working
group, members strived to plan, organize and promote a series of
evangelization activities during the period.
Implementation Period
In Sep 2003, the Working Group proposed an evangelization
workplan at the diocesan level, the parish
level, the school level and the caritas level. It was endorsed by the
Diocese Consultancy Committee in Oct 2003.
In Nov 2003, the Diocese officially set up the Diocesan Ad Hoc Committee
for the Year of Evangelization and appointed four new representatives.
Together with the 24 members of the former Working Group, now there are
28 members responsible of mobilizing and coordinating all evangelization
activities in this period. |
