NEWS ARCHIVES 

Leadership Seminars for Bishops

Pastoral Leadership Seminars for bishops will be resumed within the FABC program. The first two of these seminars will be "standard  seminars" for basics while the third one will build on the other two for advanced training. The first seminar is scheduled from October 26 to November2, 2008 in the FABC Documentation Centre in Bangkok while the other two are planned from March 15 to 22, 2009 and October 11 to 18, 2009 also in Bangkok. The seminars are under the direction of Fr. Anthony D'Souza sj, Mumbai, India.

Such leadership seminars were regular features of FABC programs in the past and are now resumed. They are organized by the Central Secretariat of the Federation.

FABC Office Re-named

The FABC "Office of Education and Student Chaplaincy" is going to be re-named into "Office of Education and Faith Formation". The new name was proposed by a group reformulating the terms of reference for the nine FABC offices and approved by the FABC Central Committee meeting April 15-19,2008 in Bangkok. It was felt that this way the real services of the office assisting Bishops' Conferences in their responsibility for faith formation in areas like catechesis would be better expressed.

FABC Central Committee and Offices Meet

The Central Committee of the FABC, which comprises the  presidents of the member Bishops' Conferences and the nine FABC Offices of the Federation met from April 15 to 19 in the FABC Documentation Center in Bangkok, Thailand. With the official acceptance of the Bishops' Conference of Kasakhstan (Central Asia) the Federation now comprises 15 Bishops' Conferences and 10 Associate members, which are are Church territories with less than three dioceses or ecclesiastical territories from the Asian continent.

At the beginning of the meeting the different offices reported about their activities and programs which was further developed and deepened later by separate meetings of the offices between themselves, while the Central Committee discussed and decided on other questions concerning the structure, activities of the Federation including the terms of reference for the different offices.

The Central Committee also re-elected for another three year term Archbishop Orlando Quevedo omi, the present Secretary and for another four year term the Assistant Secretary General Fr. Raymond O'Toole.

Planning for the upcoming General Assembly of the FABC, the highest decision making body of the Federation was another important discussion point. This assembly is to take place in Bangalore, India with the theme "Living the Eucharist in Asia". Similar to preparations for Roman Synods also here an "instrumentum laboris" (working document) is to be developed by the Office of Theological Concerns in close cooperation with experts from the different Bishops' Conferences and the other FABC Offices. General Assemblies of the Federation are to take place every four years. In between the Central Committee serves as the governing body of the Federation. The cooperation between the offices is beside others also secured through an e-group for regular exchange of experiences and  planning.

FABC Honors Cardinal Michai Kitbunchu of Bangkok

The Central Committe of the FABC and its offices honored Bangkok Archbishop, Michai Cardinal Kitbunchu, in a special ceremony on April 17, 2008 to commemorate his silver jubilee as Cardinal.  The presidents of FABC-member bishops' conferences comprising the Central Committee, along with other FABC officials, thanked the prelate for his long affiliation and support to the Federation. During the ceremony, Cardinal Oswald Gracias (Mumbai) was also felicitated as the newest member to the Cardinalate, together with  Bishop Vianney Fernando, president of the Sri Lankan Bishops' Conference, who celebrates his silver jubilee as Bishop this year.

At the same occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with Bangkok Archdiocese for the "FABC Documentation Center" to continue to be of service to the different FABC offices and activities in its current location within the city.  The MOU will be valid for 10 years to be renewed thereafter.

Kazakhstan: New FABC Member

The Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan was officially accepted as new member of the "Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences" at the ongoing Central Committee meeting of the Federation. The Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan consists of the archdiocese of Astana, two additional dioceses, and two Apostolic Administrations. From the 15 million inhabitants of the country some 60 percent are Shiite Moslems, while some 40 percent are Christians, mainly Orthodox. There are approximately 250,000 Roman Catholics. With the new member conference, the  FABC is firmly established within the region of Central Asia.

Visit the Bishops' Conference of Kazakhstan website.

Radio Veritas Asia Launches Year-long 40th Anniversary Celebration

Some 100 guests and staff of Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) joined the Eucharist presided by San Fernando, Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto on April 11, 2008 to launch the year-long 40th anniversary celebration of the station.  In his homily, Archbishop Aniceto reminded those present that "RVA is the response of the Asian Bishops to the missionary mandate of Jesus Christ."  Amid the "continuous promotion of the 'culture of death' in Asia thru wars, abortion, anomalies as well as graft and corruption in governments," RVA is "challenged to promote the counter culture of peace, unity, solidarity and life," the prelate said.  Archbishop Aniceto is member of the Philippine Radio Educational and Information Center (PREIC), RVA's legal body in the Philippines.  Manila Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez and priests of RVA concelebrated the Eucharist. The year-long Ruby anniversary celebration culminates on April 11, 2009.  RVA, a project of the FABC, beams in 16 languages throughout Asia and parts of Russia.

Fr. Roberto Ebisa, general manager of RVA together with guest speaker Ambassador Francisco Benedicto and Archbishop Paciano Aniceto; the Prelate celebrating the Eucharist

Eucharist in Education

"Eucharist and Education in Asia" is the theme of a consultation organized by the FABC Office of Education and Student Chaplaincy for May 25-30, 2008 at Assumption University, Bangkok.  The consultation is co-sponsored by the Office of International Catholic Education (OIEC) and the Directorate of the National Commission on Education of Sri Lanka.  The meeting will gather the heads of various Episcopal Commissions for Education and Catechesis in Asia as well as representatives of other educational organizations.  The consultation wants to reflect especially on the consequences for Education of the Apostolic Exhortation "Sancramentum Caritatis," and will be at the same time a preparation for the upcoming 9th FABC Plenary Assembly on the theme "Living Eucharist in Asia."

FABC in Central Asia

"Eucharist and Education in Asia" is the theme of a consultation organized by the FABC Office of Education and Student Chaplaincy for May 25-30, 2008 at Assumption University, Bangkok. The consultation is co-sponsored by the Office of International Catholic Education (OIEC) and the Directorate of the National Commission on Education of Sri Lanka. The meeting will gather the heads of various Episcopal Commissions for Education and Catechesis in Asia as well as representatives of other educational organizations. The consultation wants to reflect especially on the consequences for Education of the Apostolic Exhortation "Sancramentum Caritatis," and will be at the same time a preparation for the upcoming 9th FABC Plenary Assembly on the theme "Living Eucharist in Asia."

Thus, the FABC has four regions within Asia which include beside Central Asia, the regions of South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal), Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, Laos-Cambodia, Thailand and Philippines) and East Asia (Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Taiwan and hopefully, soon China).

Fr. Henry D'Souza, communication secretary of India, appointed Bishop

Fr. Henry D'Souza, the communication secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), was appointed on March 15, 2008 as the new Bishop of Bellary diocese, Karnataka. Fr. Henry was for seven years secretary of the Communications office of the Indian bishops' conference and was instrumental in restructuring and depeening social communication for the whole of India. His consecration as Bishop will take place middle of June 2008 in Bellary, the place of his new assignment.

The announcement of Fr Henry's elevation as bishop and details of his life are published in the CBCI website at www.cbcisite.com Check out more Church-communication news

42nd World Communication Day Pontifical Message and Liturgical Text on Feb/Mar 08 issue of 'Communication INFO'

The Introductory Comment and Liturgical Guide for World Communication Day 2008 is now available on the February/March 2008 issue of "Communication INFO" newsletter. The theme of this year's celebration is "The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others." The Holy Father's Message was released on January 24, Feast of St. Francis de Sales - patron of journalists.

FABC Central Committee Meets

The Central Committee of the FABC will meet together with officials of the nine FABC Offices from April 15-20, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. Beside reports on the activities and plans of the different offices, one of the main discussion points will be the preparation for the 9th FABC Plenary Assembly from January 11-20, 2009 in Bangalore, India. The theme of the upcoming Plenary will be "Living Eucharist in Asia."

The Central Committee will also welcome the Kazakhstan bishops' conference as a full-fledged member of the Federation, raising the number of member bishops' conferences to 15 in all, with 10 additional "associate" members (Church territories with less than 3 dioceses).

The Central Committee is composed of the presidents of the member-bishops' conferences of the Federation and meets every two years.

AsIPA Courses for 2008

The AsIPA Desk of the FABC Office of Laity and Family is organizing several courses within their program. The courses will be held in the Philippines and Singapore while an annual course in India given already in January 2008 will be repeated in 2009. AsIPA stands for "Asian Integrated Pastoral Approach" and is the application of the Lumpo method for Bible sharing and Basic Christian Communities developed by the Lumko Missiological Institute in South Africa. AsIPA is an FABC initiative.

South East Asia Meeting on Women: Final Statement

The final statement of the South East Asia meeting on "Challenges to Women in the Family in the 21st Century" which was held from January 27-31, 2008 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia is now available. The resolutions of the some 31 women participants, three bishops and one priest from six Asian countries underline the need to recognize the dignity of women but also to build "partnership and balance of responsibility for men and women in the family." Formation programs for the youth are encouraged as well as the need to develop "couple relationships." The conference was organized by the Women's Desk of the FABC-Office of Laity and Family.

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SMS for Radio Veritas Asia

Radio Veritas Asia, the continental short-wave radio station in the responsibility of the FABC, has in her almost 40 years history received thousands of letters as reactions to its programs in fifteen different languages. The Bangla service of the station beamed to Bangladesh and West Bengal, India has experienced a growing number of text messages (short messaging system or SMS) via cellphones instead of letters being mailed by post. The program has adopted even a special "mobile conference" using cellphones within the regular programming. This strength was confirmed in a recent Listeners' Meeting in Rajshaji, Bangladesh on Feb 8, 2008 with some 400 listeners and representatives of Listeners' Clubs present, 90 percent of whom being Muslims and mostly young people.

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