Sept 25, 2012: It is 40 years since the Bishops of Asia set up the Federation
of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), the apex body of the Catholic Church in
Asia. The event will be celebrated during the 10th plenary assembly of the leaders
and delegates of the various Bishops' Conferences in the continent when they meet
in Vietnam, November 19-25, 2012. About 100 participants consisting of Presidents
of Bishops' Conferences, theologians and other church leaders are expected to attend
the event to reflect on opportunities and pastoral challenges that society offers
the Church in Asia in the 21st century. FABC is the umbrella organization of 19-member
Bishops' Conferences spread across the continent stretching from Kazakhstan in Central
Asia to East Timor (Timor Leste) in Southeast Asia.
The Vietnam plenary assembly,
which is expected to be attended by delegates from the Vatican, has chosen for its
theme: “FABC at Forty Years - Responding to the Challenges of Asia: The New Evangelization.”
The assembly will discuss the ways of living the spirit of renewal and the vision
of evangelization in Asia. The working document for the Xth plenary assembly invites
the delegates to discern how the Church can spread the Gospel values in societies
of Asia impacted by dynamics triggered by globalization, cultural diversity, poverty
and other factors. They will also try to take account of concerns such as: migrants
and refugees, indigenous peoples, population, religious freedom, threats to life,
social communications, ecology, laity, women, youth, Pentecostalism and vocations.
The
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is the fulfillment of the dream of
the Bishops of Asia when they met together for the first time in 1968 in Manila soon
after the Vatican II. As the Asian bishops came to Manila again during the visit of
Pope Paul VI in 1970, the proposal took more concrete steps to set up this Federation.
They forged ahead with their plans for the FABC as local Churches in Asia grappled
with the question of how to proclaim the Gospel in a "new world” born after the colonial
period.
The statutes of the FABC were approved by the Holy See in 1972. This
voluntary association of Bishops' Conferences in Asia was formed "to foster among
its members solidarity and co-responsibility for the welfare of Church and society
in Asia, and to promote and defend whatever is for the greater good." Taking renewal
in the Church as the overarching theme of its structure, reflection and activities
through the past four decades, the FABC has discerned what the Church in Asia must
do to be the Light, the Salt and the Leaven for the masses of Asia so that the message
of Jesus Christ who said “I came that the World may have life and have it abundantly”
(Jn 10/10) may become relevant.
One of the main instruments of achieving its
goal is the FABC plenary assembly held every four years. The assembly usually brings
together about 100 bishop-delegates and a large number of theologians and experts
to study particular themes, pray together and draft statements that is relevant for
the church in Asia.
The first FABC plenary assembly in 1974 issued its first
statement and recommendation under the title “Evangelization in Modern Day Asia”.
It recommended to use dialogue as the approach to evangelization in Asia where Christians
comprise only two to three percent of the population in most countries. Archbishop
Thomas Menamparampil, who served for many years in India's troubled northeast region
and currently chairs the FABC's Office of Evangelization, advocated an approach that
involves "whispering the Gospel to the soul of Asia." FABC documents have detailed
an approach to evangelization through dialogue at three levels: with a people's culture
(inculturation), with a country's religions (interreligious dialogue), and with the
poor.
Cardinal Rosales the emeritus Archbishop of Manila said: "Without the
FABC, individual local Churches would find it hard to solve problems that are shared
by other Churches". One of the theologians from India, Father Felix Wilfred presented
in volume 1 of the book "For All the Peoples of Asia," the strategy of "implementing
the grand vision of the FABC." For more information on FABC, please visit our website:
www.fabc.org.
The Functions of FABC:
Alive to the reality of the fresh
winds of renewal that was blowing in the Church, the Bishops realized the need for
setting up a permanent structure by which Asian Church leaders could gather regularly
to share their experiences and develop among themselves what local Churches could
do to translate the vision of Vatican II into the lives of the Peoples in Asia. Hence
the function of FABC was defined as follows:
To study ways and means of promoting
the apostolate, especially in the light of Vatican II and post-conciliar official
documents, and according to the needs of Asia
To work for and to intensify
the dynamic presence of the Church in the total development of the peoples of Asia
To
help in the study of problems of common interest to the Church in Asia, and to investigate
possibilities of solutions and coordinated action
To promote inter-communication
and cooperation among local Churches and bishops of Asia
To render service
to Episcopal Conferences of Asia in order to help them to meet better the needs of
the People of God
To foster a more ordered development of organizations and
movements in the Church at the international level.
To foster ecumenical and
interreligious communication and collaboration.
Based on the logic of local
Churches, the decisions of the Federation are without juridical binding force; their
acceptance is an expression of collegial responsibility.
STRUCTURE
FABC
functions through a hierarchy of structure consisting of the Plenary Assembly, the
Central Committee, the Standing Committee, and the Central Secretariat.
The
Plenary Assembly, the supreme body of FABC, is composed of all presidents of member-conferences
or their officially designated Episcopal alternates, Bishop-delegates elected by the
member-conferences, associate members and members of the Standing Committee. The Plenary
Assembly meets in ordinary session every four years.
The Central Committee,
composed of the presidents of member-conferences or their officially designated Episcopal
alternates, oversees the implementation of the resolutions and instructions of the
Plenary Assembly.
The Standing Committee, composed of five Bishops elected
from different parts of Asia, implements the resolutions and instructions of the Central
Committee. It provides direct guidance and support to the Central Secretariat and
other organs of FABC.
The Central Secretariat is the principal service agency
and an instrument of coordination within the FABC and with outside offices and agencies.
To assist the Central Secretariat are nine Offices each handling specialized ministry/area
of concern:.
Office of Human Development
Office of Social Communication
Office
of Laity
Office of Theological Concerns
Office of Education and Student
Chaplaincy
Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
Office of
Evangelization
Office of Clergy
Office of Consecrated Life
In
2011 a desk for ecological concerns has been set up to address this important issue