Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangong, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, welcomes delegates and guests to the FABC general conference in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 12, 2022. (Photo by Peter Monthienvichienchai / LiCAS.news)
By Jose Torres Jr
Oct 14 2022
Pope Francis on Wednesday, October 12, urged Asian Catholic bishops who are gathered in Thailand for their general conference to recognize the important role of lay people in the Church.
The pontiff told the Asian Church leaders to “let the laity assume their baptism (and) their function as laypersons.”
Marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), more than 150 bishops from across Asia are meeting in Bangkok from October 12–30.
In his message, Pope Francis said that since the establishment of the federation, the Church in Asia “was being called to be more authentically the Church of the poor” and “the Church of the young.”
He said the Asian Church is also supposed to be “in dialogue with fellow Asians of other denominations.”
The pope said that during the establishment of the FABC in 1970, the people in Asia “were awakening from fatalism to a life worthy of man.”
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