Pope Benedict XVI names envoy for Asian Mission Congress
(22 Aug.2006): - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe as his special
envoy to the Asian Mission Congress, which will be held Oct. 19-22 in Chiang Mai,
Thailand. Cardinal Sepe, the 63-year-old archbishop of Naples, is the former prefect
of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. According to AsiaNews agency
at least 1,000 key Church figures across Asia are expected in Chiang Mai to participate
in the first ever Asian Mission Congress organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops'
Conference. An additional 3,000 people, all Thai, will participate in the encounters,
exhibitions and cultural exhibitions that have been planned. The purpose of the congress
is to develop among Catholics in Asia the awareness of being missionaries in their
own continent and to reinforce their identity. Father Chalerm Kitmongkhol, deputy
secretary-general of the congress, told AsiaNews about the two main challenges facing
the mission in Asia: - differences in language, faith and culture among Asian countries,
and a lack of support,or even persecution from governments," the priest said. The
aim of the Congress, said the priest is to urge believers to share the happiness and
enthusiasm of our faith in Jesus Christ, recognizing that God brings reconciliation,
especially where there is division; and to celebrate evangelization in Asian culture
by bearing witness in their daily living." The Church in Thailand comprises 300,000
Catholics living among a population of around 63 million, of whom 95% are Buddhist.
The history of the country's evangelization dates back to the arrival of the Dominicans
in 1567.