By UCA News reporter
THE Hong Kong diocese plans to send a 40-member delegation to Singapore to help them experience the Church’s unity when Pope Francis visits the island nation in September, says a Church official.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of Hong Kong, who is scheduled to lead the delegation, said delegates will be able to “appreciate the unity and communion of the universal Church” during the papal program.
The delegates will get a chance to meet “other delegations from different dioceses all over the world, especially in Asia,” and it “demonstrates the universal character of the Church and its unity,” Ha said, according to a Jul 26 report in the diocesan weekly Sunday Examiner.
Ha is scheduled to lead the delegation to attend Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore, themed “Unity—Hope.”
The delegation is scheduled to leave for Singapore on Sep 11, when Francis arrives for a three-day visit. The report said Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong will also join them.
Francis comes to Singapore on the last leg of his Sep 2-13 four-nation Asia-Pacific visit. He is also scheduled to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor Leste.
“As the pope comes to Singapore, we have to realize that he is a symbol of the communion of the Church,” said Ha, stressing that the trip to Singapore remains an opportunity to witness the Church’s unity.
The report said the Hong Kong diocese is sending a delegation following the Singapore archdiocese’s invitation to all members of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) to organize a group to attend the papal Mass in Singapore.
Although Hong Kong does not have a bishops’ conference to become an FABC member, it is considered an associate member.
The delegates will join some 40,000 others at the Singapore National Stadium to celebrate the papal Mass in Singapore on Sep 12, 2024
The previous papal trip to Singapore occurred 38 years ago when Saint Pope John Paul II visited in 1986 for a five-hour stop as part of a tour of Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Australia.
Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious nation of about 5.7 million people. Ethnic Chinese are mostly Buddhists, while most Malays are Muslims.
According to official data, Christians comprise about 15 percent of the Singaporean population. – UCA News
