Church of Asia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Federation of Episcopal Conferences of Asia on 12 October. Pope Francis addressed the participants of the General Conference through his video message.
This event is held at the Baan Phu Waan Pastoral Center in Bangkok (Thailand) from October 12 to 30, 2022 under the title “Walking together as peoples of Asia”.
In the message, released by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis recalled that “you began to gather the bishops in 1970 and, when my predecessor Saint Paul VI visited Asia, he found a continent of overflowing masses “.
“The bishops verified that the masses were waking up from fatalism to a life worthy of man; the young people were also waking up, idealistic, conscientious, worried, impatient and restless; culturally diverse societies were waking up to become a true community of peoples”, assured the Holy Father.
Furthermore, he explained that “this meant that the Church in Asia was called to be more truly the Church of the poor, the Church of the young and a Church in dialogue with other Asians of other faiths.”
He also assured that “it is important that the regional conferences meet regularly, so that the Church is formed and strengthened along the way, and the fundamental question is: What does the Spirit say to the Churches of Asia? And that’s what you have to answer.”
Lastly, he defended “that the laity assume their baptism, their role as laity, and respect the singularity of each Church, because the universal Church is not the uniform Church, no, it is universal respecting the singularity of each Church”.