Brief background

The presence of Consolata missionaries in Taiwan, officially referred to as republic of China (R.O.C.), is almost six years old, making it is one of the new openings in our institute. Thus for many of our confreres, Taiwan and the larger Asian continent still retains an aura of mysteriousness, chiefly because, the presence of Consolata missionaries on the Asian continent is recent, (less than three decades in South Korea), meaning that compared to other continents as far as Consolata missionaries’ presence is concerned, Asia is pretty new and we have barely scratched the top layer in our insertion process as far as apostolate is concerned.

Apart from the issue of time, we have to admit that culturally speaking, the cultures in the parts of Asia where we are present as an institute are not only ancient, but also quite different from the cultures where majority of Consolata missionaries originally came from, (this is with due recognition of our confreres from South Korea, and also those confreres who have worked in South Korea and Mongolia for some decades). Thus for someone who, like quite a good number of fellow confreres, grew up and studied on the African continent, the process of insertion as a missionary in Taiwan can be easy and challenging simultaneously,  depending on the aspects one is considering. Thus, this article will try to present some aspects of missionary apostolate in Taiwan through the eyes of a Consolata missionary almost five years in the mission.

Map of Taiwan (Republic of China)

Taiwan.

Being a tiny Island in the Pacific Ocean, encircled by the larger and more renowned China, (The Peoples Republic of China, formed 1949) it is difficult for some people to differentiate Taiwan (The Republic of China, formed 1912). As a matter of fact for many people around the world, and for many of our fellow Consolata missionaries, Taiwan is synonymous with electronic goods a title that is held by merit due to the important and significant role played by Taiwanese companies or others based on the Island for their contribution in the electronics industries.

View of Taipei, Capital of Taiwan

Are there Christians in Taiwan?

For not so few Christians from the other continents, and probably for quite a number of our own fellow missionaries, Taiwan is a place where the Gospel has arrived in recent years. Yet nothing can be further from the truth, for Christian faith, specifically the Catholic Church has been on this island for more than a century, but what is true is that there are very few Catholics compared to the general population. Thus we can speak of missionary work in Taiwan as primary evangelization in the sense that there are many people who though they have seen or heard of the Catholic Church they have not yet had the chance of hearing the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, every time one goes out on the streets among the people ones meets from the shops, to the public transport to schools, the majority are no-Christians. From this perspective, Taiwan can be said to be a place of first evangelization.

Mass celebration with the Bishop of Hsinchu at Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Is Chinese language difficult to learn?

This is a common question that does not have a simple answer to the disappointment of many people who ask. For the one seeking to know  expects a yes or no answer, but the truth is that different people have different abilities to learn different things as we all already know, and this is true with the Chinese language. For instance, the people from some of the countries neighboring Chinese speaking peoples, and whose languages share some common characteristics, will definitely find it easier to learn the Chinese language. For the others, from other parts of the world, whose languages are not related to Chinese language, some effort and patience will be necessary especially at the beginning. Many people tend to compare the study of Chinese language to running a marathon as compared to running short races/print, just to show the patience and time needed to absorb the language. Personally I have taken it as a journey of adventure where I discover and learn different things every day, as a way of cultivating patience with the language.

Pastoral work

Due to the shortage of priests in the diocese where we are currently serving, I found myself having to take the role of a pastor earlier than expected, for I had hoped to have more time to practice and become more fluent in the language. But as things turned out, I would continue learning and practicing the language in the course of serving the people of God. On the one hand, there is an advantage in the sense that every day is full of opportunities to learn and practice the language. On the other hand, there is the tension or pressure due to the fact that there are many things I don’t understand, not only as far as the language is concerned but also due to the fact that one has to rely on others to fulfill the duties of a pastor. But thanks to divine providence, just as the Lord promised his disciples to be with them always (cf. Mt 28:20), there are always people ready and willing to help along the way, which has made my load a way lot easier to bear.

Consolata Missionaries in Taiwan (left: Fr. Jasper, Fr. Emmanuel, Fr. Mathews, Fr. Bernard)

One major challenge is the diocese where we are currently serving is the fact that the majority of the Catholics who regularly attend Sunday Mass are quite advanced in age. This means that, just as in many parts of Europe where they have more or less the same scenario, the pastoral work is tailored for the needs of the people. Having the majority of the Church going members being so advanced in age means that the number is on the downward trend as gradually more and more members join the Church in heaven. This is a worrying especially to the Christians who are very much attached to their parishes which are no longer sustainable and have to be merged with others so as to become viable pastorally and financially sustainable. There is thus the urgency of recruiting new members, sometimes not paying attention to proper catechesis, which has greatly influenced the various aspects of pastoral work in general.

Traditions in the Liturgy

Whoever has studied something about the history of the Catholic Church in China is definitely aware of the controversies regarding the ancestral worship which were raised both by Jesuits as well as by the Franciscans some centuries earlier. It is noteworthy to point out that, later on, the Church accepted some aspects of the traditions to be included in the liturgy, especially the funeral liturgy. The liturgy incorporates a lot of aspects from the people’s traditions and is actually open to accept more. For instance, in some rubrics of the funeral liturgy, the minister is advised that in the event that there is no written word from the bishop’s conference against a particular cultural practice, then the minister can use his discretion to use this practice if it is commonly in use in that particular cultural set-up.

Another aspect in this regard for example which surprised me is that on the day of the funeral, the liturgy can last for a whole day (right from the morgue in the morning, before putting the body in the coffin and closing it, to the Church for Mass, liturgy after Mass, the liturgy at the crematorium, or the cemetery, and then the liturgy at the place of repose of the ashes).

Another aspect is that in almost all the Catholic churches, one will find a special corner where there is the board on which is placed the names of the deceased Christians, written on wooded tablets, and an altar to give offerings of fruits, wine and incense to the ancestors, a rite especially celebrated during the Chinese New Year or when a new member’s tablet has to be added. Traditionally these names on wooded tablets used to be kept at home, but with its incorporation in the liturgy, they are now kept in the Church. This is one aspect that the people here hold very dear, and at least once a year, especially during the Chinese New Year, the relatives will always go to the churches where the tablets of their loved ones are to pay their respects.

Sacred Heart Church: The chandelier carries the Chinese character love and the eight virtues that the Chinese culture professes

Sacred Heart Church: Dragons are used exclusively by the royalty. For Catholics Jesus Christ is the king of kings

Local vocations

In the diocese where we are serving at the moment, the majority of the priests are foreigners, even the diocesan priests, most are foreigners incardinated in the diocese. This situation has made the people to view the priesthood and priests in general as something foreign, such that often one will hear Christians saying that, ‘our priest doesn’t not understand how things are done here’, due to the fact that the priest in question is a foreigner. I just keep on wondering, if the locally born and raised pastors would not be better placed to serve effectively in this reality, but these are just my thoughts. As at present, there is lots of pastoral work to be done in this place, and thus for any missionary keen on serving the people of God, one who chooses or is recommended by superiors to come to Taiwan for missionary apostolate, can be sure to find more opportunities than one can imagine to serve the people of God. And for such a missionary the Christians will be more than willing to welcome h/er with open arms and hearts to h/er surprise.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Church

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

The parish handed over by the Jesuits to the diocese and consequently to the care of the Consolata missionaries over three years ago (2017) is under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Jesuits missionaries established all the structures necessary for the growth and nourishment of faith. In this parish community there is a practice of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday from morning until evening among other devotions. This, for me, seems like our Founder, Blessed Joseph Allamano had just prepared the way for his sons through the Jesuits missionaries, so as to continue our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. So every Friday as we adore the Blessed Sacrament raised on the altar of the middle church, for our Church is three in one, and our Church being situated almost in the middle of our city (Hsinchu), and bearing the protector as the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I can’t help but feel that the life force, or the heartbeat of this city is right in the parish under the care of the Consolata Missionaries. So during the benediction in the evening, with two or more Christians present, we always raise the Blessed Sacrament aloft, blessing those present in the Church and the entire city of Hsinchu.

We, the Consolata missionaries currently serving in Taiwan, hope and look forward to welcoming more Consolata missionaries to this land full of numerous opportunities for serving the people of God.

Sacred Heart of Jesus: Parishioners with the Bishop and Consolata Missionaries

Bishop and Parishioners at the Church's entrance (with their fingers making the sign of love)

* Fr. Jasper Njuki Kirimi is a Consolata Missionary from Kenya an currently serves as Parish Priest at Hsinchu Diocese’s Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish.