Hong Kong publishes Chinese edition of Social Doctrine of the Church

( March, 23,2011) Hong Kong diocese on Monday released the Chinese edition of Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. The book took part-time translators six years to finish. 79-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, former Archbishop of Hong Kong, initiated the translation project after the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace presented the compendium in 2004. He will send complimentary copies to Macau, Taiwan, Singapore Churches and to other overseas Chinese Catholic communities. The prelate said the Chinese compendium is a good opportunity to declare the Church’s social values. The book guides us to build a better society.
And project coordinator Fr. Stephen Chan Moon-hung, ecclesiastical adviser of Hong Kong’s Justice and Peace Commissiom (JPC), said It will benefit all Chinese, who account for one-fifth of the world’s population. He said that publishing and circulating the compendium or organizing seminars for it, would be difficult in the mainland, unless the government relaxes freedom of speech. But “it’s our responsibility to sow the seed,” he added. At the invitation of Cardinal Zen, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the pontifical council president, visited Hong Kong for the book-launching organized by the JPC on March 20. An electronic copy will soon be available on the Vatican’s website. Other Asian Churches including Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam have also translated the book into their own languages.