Cardinal Tomko closes Taiwan’s celebrations of 150 years of evangelization

(November 23, 2009) The year-long celebration of 150 years of evangelization in Taiwan came to an end on Saturday with a solemn Mass by Cardinal Jozef Tomko, the Pope’s special envoy to the event. Some 15 thousand faithful from all the dioceses in Taiwan, as well as cardinals and bishops from the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macao were present at the Mass at Lin Kou National Stadium in the capital. The celebration commemorates the evangelization of Taiwan that formally begun 150 years ago, with the arrival in January, 1859, of three Spanish missionaries from the Philippines along with 5 Chinese lay persons. Cardinal Tomko, former prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples said Taiwan’s 150 years of evangelization is a time for a new evangelization. Speaking during his homily the Slovak cardinal pointed to the feast of Christ the King saying the Kingdom of God is something spiritual, without soldiers, palaces or financial riches. He said that a lifestyle that is merely materialistic goes against true happiness of heart. An economy without ethics, he said, does not lead to growth but to loss like the recent global economic crisis. Taiwan’s dioceses, parishes and lay movements celebrated the year-long jubilee with numerous religious and cultural initiatives – among them a grand pilgrimage to the island nation’s famous shrine of the Immaculate Conception of Wanchin. Taiwan has a population of some 23 million, 93% of whom profess Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism. Catholics who number some 308,000 form around 1.37%.