For Thai Cardinal, the art of living includes witness to the Gospel

Last updated on: October 23, 2015 at 6:08 am by CNA Daily News

For Thai Cardinal, the art of living includes witness to the Gospel 2015-10-23T06:08:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rome, Italy, Oct 23, 2015 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Every Christian has a role to play in evangelization, and the first step is to take the Word of God into their hearts, the Archbishop of Bangkok has said.

“We need to give a concrete testimony of faith in living the Word of God, building small Christian communities and then we also have the obligation to announce the Good News,” Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij told CNA.

He explained that Christians must interiorize the Word of God and then put it into practice. Christians must live their witness of Christ in daily life at home, in the family, and at work. This will give credibility to the work of evangelization.

Thailand’s Catholic bishops have declared a Holy Year in the country to advance the New Evangelization and to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the first Synod of Ayutthaya, held in 1664.

In April the bishops hosted the first Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Thailand.
They deliberated on the theme, “The Disciples of Christ Live the New Evangelization.”

Cardinal Kriengsak served as the plenary council’s president. He said the council helped orient pastoral guidelines for the future in order to build the Church in Thailand and to help the community as a whole.

He reiterated the need for Christian witness “first to proclaim and then to evangelize.”

The cardinal noted that Thailand’s Catholic community is very small; itmakes up less than one percent of the population.

The cardinal was in Rome Oct. 11 to take possession of his titular church, Santa Maria Addolorata Church. He spoke there with special focus on youth formation, noting their role as the future of the Church and the future leaders of the society.

He said that taking possession of a titular church in Rome, the diocese of the Pope, shows the fidelity and unity of the local Church and the universal Church.

Cardinal Kriengsak explained in Rome: “even if I stay far in the East, my heart beats with the Pope, with the community.” He said his cardinal’s ring also unites him with the Pope and the Catholic community.

The cardinal’s motto on his coat of arms is the Latin phrase “Verbum Crucis Dei Virtus est,” which means “The language of the Cross is the power of God.”

“Right from my seminary days, I adored the crucified Christ who showed his intense love in redeeming humanity,” he said.

Cardinal Kriengsak, 66, was born in 1949 near Bangkok. He studied at St. Joseph’s Seminary in his home diocese and finished his philosophical and theological formation at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Bangkok in 1976. He was installed as bishop of Nakhon Sawan, in west central Thailand, in 2007. Two years later, he was installed as Archbishop of Bangkok.

Pope Francis made the archbishop a cardinal in the 2015 conclave. His predecessor in the Bangkok archdiocese, Cardinal Michael Michai Kitbunchu, was Thailand’s first cardinal.

Cardinal Kriengsak is also a supporter of the Focolare movement, a multi-religious spiritual and social renewal movement founded in Italy by Chiara Lubich, a Catholic laywoman. Lubich’s cause for beatification opened in January 2015.

Europe

Previous Post

October 22, 2015

Sodalitium Christianae Vitae issues statement in wake of accusations

Next Post

October 23, 2015 The problem of porn – are bishops talking about it?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Hebrews states that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE