The Church of Hong Kong Welcomes 3 Thousand Newly Baptized Catholics

Bishop Tong urges the new and the old faithful to be missionaries: "The mission to bring others to know Jesus is the most important Christian commitment."

During the Easter vigil in various parishes in Hong Kong 3 thousand adults were baptized. In his Easter letter, Mgr. John Tong thanked the catechists and asked all to be missionaries.

In the past, in Hong Kong, there were on average 1500-2 thousand baptisms of adults who after catechumenal preparation, were received into the Catholic community during the Easter Vigil.

This year their number - 3 thousand - is a record, so much so that Bishop Tong has devoted a large part of his pastoral letter on the occasion of Easter to this fact.

"With God´s blessings", - says the bishop - "he Diocese of Hong Kong rejoices in over 3,000 adult baptisms this Easter Vigil. On behalf of the diocese, I would like to offer our warmest welcome to the newly baptised who have joined our Catholic family". The bishop has already met the new believers during the catechumenate and has planned a thanksgiving mass with them for Pentecost.

In his letter, Msgr. Tong also thanked the 1000 Catechism schools throughout the diocese and 580 volunteer catechists who teach the catechumens during the year. "They" - said the prelate - "sacrifice their time and energy to spread the faith. I admire their efforts. I hope and pray that all of them will follow the footsteps of the Apostles and make further progress along the road to God".

"The mission to bring others to know Jesus is the most important Christian commitment," said Mgr. Tong, who has called "new and old Catholics" to study the catechism of the Church so as to" spread the Gospel in ever wider circles and give a more powerful testimony of faith. "

There are 350 thousand Catholics in Hong Kong out of a population, estimated at about 6.8 million.

Pope is martyr in protecting Catholic Church

Ecce homo," "Behold the man!" These were the words spoken by Pontius Pilate when he presented a scourged Jesus Christ to a hostile mob shortly before his crucifixion. The same words aptly apply today to Pope Benedict XVI, as he is being held up to unprecedented ridicule and scorn by a hateful press and a world so out of touch with its spiritual nature and moral being ("Scandal threatens Pope Benedict's legacy," News, Friday).

One can almost hear Jesus saying to the peaceful and benevolent pope: "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first" (John 15:18). Contrary to his critics, the pope, like Jesus, is completely innocent and is doing everything in his power to weed out those priests guilty of sexual abuse and to justly compensate victims for their suffering.

In fact, he is the one who has tackled these things head on. Remember that even Jesus had his Judas. But the world wants to see the death of the church because it knows the church is the mother of all saints.

It knows that the Catholic Church is the last bastion of hope against a materialistic world that craves immorality at every step, including homosexuality, same-sex marriage, easy divorce, abortion, radical feminism, contraception, embryonic stem cell research and cloning. Benedict will be remembered not for the scandals of a few priests but for his intense suffering in protecting the faith from wolves in sheep's clothing. He will be known as one of the greatest of Catholic martyrs.

Abuse of spiritual power
In the light of the recent revelations of alleged insidious behavior by a large number of Catholic priests, I'd like to point out that these are not the first such accusations directed at this group of self-anointed elitists. These men chose Catholicism and to covet these priestly positions.

Through this exaltation of themselves above the common soul, they then believe themselves exempt from the laws of man. They feel cloaked in justice by taking sanctuary in the Vatican.

Let the common sense of progress strip the Vatican of its power, its wealth, its officers and its will over the people.


Teachings about sexuality
It would be foolish to blame the entire Catholic Church for a few pedophilic priests.

It would be equally foolish, however, to deny that the historic church must at least indirectly share part of the blame.

The relevant social problem has stemmed over the ages from the church's unreasonable repression of human sexuality. This has merely cultivated sexuality in the underground, where it most often develops in very unsavory ways.

The church is rightfully criticized for its repressive, misogynistic and destructive views of human sexuality.