The Verbiest Institute KULeuven accepted an invitation of the direction of the National Seminary in Beijing to co-organize in the seminary a Pastoral-Catechetical Program for the formation of Church ministers. The program is intended to grow in time into a three year specialized program leading to an M.A. Degree. Priests, religious and lay Catholics are welcome to join. It is hoped that after their studies they will be able to initiate a Pastoral Center in their own dioceses promoting the Vatican II aggiornamento of pastoral and catechesis in the Church of China. Lumen Vitae Institute (Brussels) agreed to cooperate and will send some of its professors to teach. The Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Leuven is also invited to join. Candidates are required to have obtained a bachelor degree. Those who did not finish theological studies will first follow a one year formation in theology. The curriculum will basically follow the model and methodology of Lumen Vitae Institute (Brussels) applying the "observe-judge-act" method to pastoral catechesis. It will include an extensive introduction to all official Church documents on evangelization, on pastoral and catechesis e.g.: the Directory of Catechesis, the Pastoral Directory for Bishops, Catechesis Tradendae, Evangelii Nuntiandi etc. Faith Weekly , a weekly that is published on 40.000 copies has published the news in China calling on candidates to register. Courses will start on October 5. Only 15 candidates will be accepted the first year. Chinese priests, religious and lay Catholics, studying pastoral catechesis abroad are invited to teach in this program upon their return to China. This way the Church in China will be able to conduct its own Pastoral Institute in the near future.

For more than fifteen years the Verbiest Institute KULeuven and Verbiest Institute Taipei have organized teams to respond to invitations from dioceses in Mainland China to conduct Formation Sessions in the field of pastoral theology and catechesis. More than 60 such sessions were organized so far and more than 3500 priests, religious and lay Catholics participated. Today more and more dioceses in China organize such sessions conducted by their own priests, religious and lay people. The Verbiest Institute continues to cooperate with them where needed and invited. Investing in the formation of Church ministers inside China has always been the priority of Verbiest Institute.

The above described program has been approved also by Chinese civil authorities. This is considered to be a breakthrough and an important step forward. It also proves that more positive initiatives are taking place inside the Church in China but these are not reported in the media. There are undoubtedly still many problems with freedom of religion in China but by reporting only the problems one creates a false image of the reality of the Church in China.

As of May 1, 2009, the CICM missionaries in Belgium made their house at Mercierplaats 3, Leuven, available to serve as official secretariat of the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation. The Verbiest Institute KULeuven remains where it has always been: in the Verbiest House of the university at Naamse straat 63, Leuven. During its last yearly meeting on June 26, the Verbiest Foundation Board, presided by Cardinal G. Danneels with Br. René Stockman as Executive Director, appointed Mr. Joseph Lin Junhsyong (Malaysia), member of the Taipei Verbiest Institute and graduate of KULeuven and Lumen Vitae, as secretary of the Foundation. He will keep the Board informed on the activities of the two institutes (in Leuven and in Taipei) which are sponsored by the Foundation.

The Board also decided to use the house at Mercierplaats 3, Leuven to lodge the Chinese College Leuven, which thereby becomes the third entity sponsored by Verbiest Foundation. Part of the Scheut-Memorial-Library (SML) - the de Rachewiltz collection - will in the near future also be accommodated in the same Chinese College (the rest of SMLibrary remains at the CICM house in Kessel-Lo, near Leuven).

• Chinese students receiving a scholarship from Verbiest Foundation are accommodated in the Chinese College Leuven.
• For the academic year 2009-2010 CCL is inviting 12 Chinese priests, religious and lay Catholics to register at the Canon Triest Institute of the Brothers of Charity and follow a program on Social Ethics (which is co-organized by Lateran University, Rome). They will live at the Canon Triest Institute in Moerzeke (East Flanders).
• On July 3, 2009, after students finished their examinations, CCL organized a one day "CCL Symposium". Students were invited to present, in English, one of the papers which they had written in the course of the year on topics related to theology, scripture, pastoral or philosophy, preferably with references and applications to Chinese culture and to the Church in China. Some newly arrived students who are still studying the English language had the courage to present a paper too. It proved to be not only a good exercise but also a discovery of some valuable papers which in the future we could share among us and with friends; an initiative to be repeated every year.
• The Chinese College Leuven (CCL) also welcomes other Catholic Chinese students and their friends to participate in activities and celebrations at the College as e.g. prayer meetings, celebrations at Christmas and Easter etc.
• CCL students took advantage of the Summer vacation to participate in some local religious and cultural activities, like the Holy Blood Procession in Bruges, the 400 year-old Penance Procession of Veurne, the Procession of the Blessed Virgin in Tongeren (held once every 7 years) etc.

(above) CCL Students present papers during a one day symposium at Verbiest Institute KULeuven and (below) take part in religious and cultural activities in Belgium

Know and support the China Programs
of Verbiest Foundation

• The Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation is named after the Belgian Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Verbiest who was a famous astronomer and teacher of Emperor Kangxi in the 18th century. The Foundation was established by CICM missionaries in 1982 at the Leuven University (Belgium).
• Verbiest Foundation is chaired by Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Malines (Belgium). Members represent the missionary congregations: CICM, OFM, Brothers of Charity. The Foundation sponsors the activities of Verbiest Institute at Louvain University (Belgium) and of the Verbiest Institute in Taipei (Central Building, 8th floor). Since May 1, 2009 the Foundation also sponsors the Chinese College Leuven. Through these institutes it promotes academic research on the history of the Chinese Catholic Church and pastoral cooperation with the Church in China.
• The priority concern of Verbiest Foundation is: to develop a new relationship with the Church in China. In line with the letter of Pope Benedict XVI it promotes reconciliation and unity inside the Catholic Church without prejudice for or against anyone of the two Church communities in China.
• The most efficient way to help the Church in China is to invest in the formation of Church personnel. Therefore the Foundation offers support for the formation of ministers (priests, religious, lay catechists) for the Catholic Church in China. The foundation offers scholarships for the formation of priests, religious and also lay ministers. Priority goes to supporting formation programs inside China. We invite also priests and religious to come abroad for obtaining a more specialized formation in the field of evangelization in institutes in Europe, the USA or the Philippines. Scholars are expected to return to China and teach in Catholic seminaries and formation institutes. We are in direct contact with the dioceses or religious communities in China and we see to it that the money of donations is well used.
• The Foundation also responds positively to requests from China to support (small scale) development projects in dioceses of N-W China: Gansu, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia.
• Paul Braeckmans represents Verbiest Foundation in the USA. His contact address is at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, L.A., in cooperation with Fr. Lui, pastor of the parish. Tel: (626) 282-8017; Fax: (323) 264-2524 - E-mail: paulbraeckmans@yahoo.com
• Contributions are tax-deductable if written out to: Chinese Mission Fund, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1501 South Atlantic Boulevard, Monterey Park, CA 91754, USA

Website of Verbiest Institute http://www.kuleuven.be/verbiest/

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http://www.scheutmissions.org
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