Church participation urged

Divine Word Bishop Hilarius Moa Nurak of Pangkal-Pinang has urged Chinese Indonesians in the Bangka-Belitung province to free up some of their "busy time" and play a more active part in church life.

"Many Catholic Chinese Indonesians are business people with a ‘time is money’ way of thinking.  As such they are often busy, which prevents them from being active in church life, particularly in their own basic ecclesial communities," the prelate said during Mass Jan. 23 at St. Peter Church in Lubuk Baja Batam, celebrating the Chinese New Year.

"Some think they are taking part in church life by donating money," Nurak said, adding that although the church does need money, it doesn’t replace physical participation.

According to the diocese, some 18,000 out of a total of 45,000 Catholics living in the diocese are of Chinese descent.  The rest are from various other ethnic groups.

From AsiaNews