A group in rebirth

Over the past few years, the Thailand-Burma-Laos group has been delighted to see a rejuvenation of its workforce. Our colleagues are now spread across these three countries. The group’s mission is therefore being reinvented. The local Church is making its needs known.

In Thailand, confreres are touring the Karen highlands, visiting dozens of widely scattered Christian communities and working in the field of education and development.

In Bangkok and Laos, the need for training is also a great service to be rendered.

In Burma, a similar commitment to pastoral care and training is emerging in the Chin Mountains and the Mandalay region. In these and other regions, between recurring posts and new challenges, a dozen volunteers make their contribution every year.

First evangelization
and creation of parishes

The vicariate of Phnom Penh and the apostolic prefecture of Kompong Cham are the last territories in Asia for which evangelization has been entrusted directly to MEP by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Because of its specific circumstances – the majority of the 20 000 Catholics are of Vietnamese origin – the Cambodian Church is also a place of first announcement (to the Khmers) and of new evangelization (of the Vietnamese).

The challenges are many, beginning with the challenge of creating unity among Christians of Khmer origin and those of Vietnamese origin, who are divided by the depth of the historical wounds between these two neighboring countries. No less important are the challenges related to the immense work of translation of the Bible, liturgy and tradition. The priests of the group are involved in meeting these challenges in various ways, accompanying the growth of this very young Church the  objective and highest priority are those of a mission in its first stages: the training of a diocesan clergy and the promotion of lay people, so that the Church of Cambodia may attain maturity and take its destiny into its own hands.

Living together, teaching, assisting, praying

The MEP priests of the China missionary group work in various places, mostly in the diocese of Hong-Kong. The others work in different pastoral ministries on the level of parishes and the diocese: celebration of the sacraments, schooling young people, especially in the context of the many Catholic schools in Hong Kong, teaching the catechism with numerous adult baptisms each year, visiting the elderly, a ministry which is growing quickly with the ageing of the population, hospital visits, training and assistance at small faith groups, historical and theological research, the training of priests, religious and lay people, etc.

Some of the priests who carry out their ministry in Mandarin usually live and work in Taipei. The friendly ties with dioceses formerly entrusted to the MEP are nourished by regular visits and strengthened by a range of supporting activities.

Presence and dialogue

The group has three priests in India; Lucien Legrand is continuing with his post at the seminary of Bangalore. Yann Vagneux lives in Benares in a Hindu area. With a view to specializing in dialogue with the principal religions of India, they would like another priest to have a presence in Islamic areas.

Father Laurent Bissara lives in Kolkata (West Bengal) among underprivileged populations. He runs an NGO there which runs several centers in Kolkata and also in Jalpaiguri. These centers welcome children, boys and girls, to raise them, educate them and give them a chance in life. Most are children without real family support.

The MEP India group, which has been working in the southern part of the country since 1776, is starting to move to north India.

The laboratory of globalisation

The Malaysia and Singapore missionary group no longer has full-time priests in Malaysia due to the non-renewal of MEP’s presence in this country where it is difficult to obtain a visa.

In Singapore, priests live on the spot and participate in the life of the Church, assisting groups and persons, celebrating marriages, helping minorities, visiting prisons, working with inter-religious dialogue and parish life.

One of the priests takes care of the Vietnamese community. The parishes in Singapore are dynamic and missionary. It is from Singapore that volunteers travel to Malaysia and Indonesia.

At the service of the local Church and the poor

Most of the priests in the Japanese mission have a parish ministry. Their report highlights the difficulty of being a missionary there outside the circle of parish communities and raises the question of how to make these communities into missionary communities.

Three colleagues are at the service of the poor, having put into place social centres and care centres for people in difficulty (alcoholics, drug addicts, ex-prisoners, the homeless, the disabled), with the help of local partners.

A group in rebirth

Over the past few years, the Thailand-Burma-Laos group has been delighted to see a rejuvenation of its workforce. Our colleagues are now spread across these three countries. The group’s mission is therefore being reinvented. The local Church is making its needs known.

In Thailand, confreres are touring the Karen highlands, visiting dozens of widely scattered Christian communities and working in the field of education and development.

In Bangkok and Laos, the need for training is also a great service to be rendered.

In Burma, a similar commitment to pastoral care and training is emerging in the Chin Mountains and the Mandalay region. In these and other regions, between recurring posts and new challenges, a dozen volunteers make their contribution every year.

Building the church

A commitment to ethnic Chinese in Madagascar had motivated the arrival of MEP priests in the 1960s. Then, in the 1970s, the group became more focused on the Malagasy population. Today, the MEP looks after the needs of the dioceses, particularly as regards the creation of new parishes and also diocesan administration: Mgr Georges Varkey, MEP, is the bishop of Port Bergé, other priests are diocesan stewards.

In this country, the priests work particularly on the creation of parishes, on their growth, as well as on the building of churches and schools. To do this, they even go to regions that are inaccessible to vehicles which can entail trips on foot lasting several days. The missions include churches, schools and clinics. One of the priests is a treasurer and teacher  in a preparatory seminary. At the request of his bishop, Jean-Yves Lhomme is involved in the planning and construction of a hospital which is to provide high-quality hospital care, also for the poor and the needy. Short-term volunteers come to Madagascar each year. Some MEP priests are in Mauritius as parish priests.

The laboratory of globalisation

The Malaysia and Singapore missionary group no longer has full-time priests in Malaysia due to the non-renewal of MEP’s presence in this country where it is difficult to obtain a visa.

In Singapore, priests live on the spot and participate in the life of the Church, assisting groups and persons, celebrating marriages, helping minorities, visiting prisons, working with inter-religious dialogue and parish life.

One of the priests takes care of the Vietnamese community. The parishes in Singapore are dynamic and missionary. It is from Singapore that volunteers travel to Malaysia and Indonesia.

The laboratory of globalisation

The Malaysia and Singapore missionary group no longer has full-time priests in Malaysia due to the non-renewal of MEP’s presence in this country where it is difficult to obtain a visa.

In Singapore, priests live on the spot and participate in the life of the Church, assisting groups and persons, celebrating marriages, helping minorities, visiting prisons, working with inter-religious dialogue and parish life.

One of the priests takes care of the Vietnamese community. The parishes in Singapore are dynamic and missionary. It is from Singapore that volunteers travel to Malaysia and Indonesia.

A presence in the local
church

MEP Priests support Catholic Worker Movement (ACO) teams and religious communities, etc. The group seems particularly devoted to caring for the poor in a Church that is rather rich and it can be an opening for new missionaries as well as for inter-religious dialogue.

The retired priests follow activities as witnesses or help in missionary activity. They are much appreciated in the parishes, where they help children, the poor, the workers, as well as prisoners and hospital patients.

Minorities of indigenous peoples, social work,
and opening to the Han

Priests in the Taiwan group mainly take care of the indigenous communities in three missionary centres: Taoyuan, Hualien, and Yuli. This mission involves learning Taiwanese or indigenous languages, in addition to Mandarin.

Some have a calling to work with the disabled, with migrants (Filipino, Indonesian and Vietnamese), or with students. Some priests in Taiwan have turned their attention to the Chinese (Han), working both on the mainland and on the island of Taiwan. The Taiwan mission group is pursuing this opening to the Han.

A group in rebirth

Over the past few years, the Thailand-Burma-Laos group has been delighted to see a rejuvenation of its workforce. Our colleagues are now spread across these three countries. The group’s mission is therefore being reinvented. The local Church is making its needs known.

In Thailand, confreres are touring the Karen highlands, visiting dozens of widely scattered Christian communities and working in the field of education and development.

In Bangkok and Laos, the need for training is also a great service to be rendered.

In Burma, a similar commitment to pastoral care and training is emerging in the Chin Mountains and the Mandalay region. In these and other regions, between recurring posts and new challenges, a dozen volunteers make their contribution every year.