Bishop Stephen Chow told CNA yesterday that “evangelization is, in fact, helping people understand the love of God, and the love of God without the intention of making them Catholics.”
Newsroom (29/09/2023 16:42, Gaudium Press) Bishop Stephen Chow stated yesterday to CNA that “evangelization is, in fact, helping people understand the love of God – and the love of God without the intention of converting them to Catholics – because that should not be the focus, as that focus would be too restrictive.”
“Restrictive,” as critics point out, would have been Saint Francis Xavier, who died while gazing at the shores of China, with his unfulfilled desire to see the faith of Christ spread throughout the great empire of the East. “Restrictive” also were his Jesuit brothers – the newly appointed cardinal is a Jesuit – who, after much suffering, managed to enter the Forbidden City, indeed, to convert people to Catholicism. And so it could go on until the present Church of silence in China, struggling daily to maintain its faith and convert to Catholicism.
Bishop Chow also pointed out that evangelization should help them “understand that our God means love, goodwill, and a better life,” and that “evangelization should really consist of getting to know God, who is love.”
His words are reminiscent of those spoken by the also newly appointed Portuguese cardinal, Alves Aguiar, which caused controversy before the World Youth Day (JWYD) he coordinated.
Many wonder what is going on at certain ecclesial levels of the Church. (CCM)
With information from Infocatolica.
