TAIPEI (UCAN) -- Aging is a growing issue in Taiwan that affects Catholic clergy as well as society at large.

The United Nations defines a society as "aging" when people over 65 years old form more than 7 percent of the population. According to Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior, people over 65 are 9.2 percent of Taiwan's 22 million people.

Archbishop Joseph Ti-Kang, retired archbishop of Taipei, says the aging phenomenon exists not only in society but also in the Church. Archbishop Ti retired Jan. 24 at age 75, the age at which a bishop must request retirement.

Speaking to UCA News before his retirement, he said the Church should not treat the aging of the clergy as it would "a social problem." In this regard, the archbishop said Pope John Paul II has inspired him to see the issue as one that involves spiritual values, not just numbers of years.

While acknowledging that "having young clergy is certainly a good thing," the prelate said elderly priests sometimes do "more than the young ones," are enthusiastic and "are close to God."

Besides Archbishop Ti, another Taiwan Church leader who recently reached 75 is Bishop Lucas Liu Hsien-tang of Hsinchu. He submitted his resignation before turning 75 last December, but the pope has yet to accept it.

Meanwhile, retired Bishop Andrew Tsien Tchew-choenn (Chih-chun) of Hualien, 77, resigned from all posts in bishops' commissions during the bishops' plenary meeting in November, where the issue of aging clergy was discussed.

During the meeting, as reported by Taipei Archdiocese's "Christian Life Weekly," Monsignor Ambrose Madtha, charge d'affaires of the Taipei-based Apostolic Nunciature in China, singled out aging clergy and the shortage of vocations as interrelated problems.

Father Norbertine Pu Ying-hsiung of Chiayi diocese told UCA News Feb. 13 that more than half of Chiayi's 31 diocesan priests are over 65. As for Religious, the aging issue is harder to observe because foreign missioners "come and go," Father Pu said.

Nonetheless, he noted that 10 of 14 Camillians in the country are over 60, and four of 13 Immaculate Heart of Mary missioners are over 65.

Li Hsiung, chief executive officer of Taipei City's Foundation for the Elderly, estimates that 17 percent of elderly people in society live alone. This situation is "more serious" among indigenous people, Li added, because the younger generation has moved to the cities for jobs and education.

It also has allowed Catholics to give faith witness in Mutan township, at the southern tip of Taiwan. Lay missioners introduced Catholicism to the area, served by Kaohsiung diocese, in 1998.

Wang Chaochun, a lay leader, told UCA News that lay missioners from Kaohsiung who journey to Mutan every week to build the Catholic community also care for two bedridden elderly people.

According to Wang, "The two elderly people were so smelly and dirty that no one in the village wanted to get close to them." He added that even the person who brings food to them would just leave it at the doorway. "But our lay missioners would feed and bathe them," he said.

"It is through this kind of service, which other people do not want to do, that villagers are drawn to the Church," Wang concluded. Church records say 68 Mutan villagers have been baptized since 1998.

Meanwhile, Taipei archdiocese recently opened the 561-bed Chih Shan Home for the Aged, run by the Cardinal Tien Hospital in the capital.

According to 2000 Church statistics, Taiwan's 298,451 Catholics were served by 600 clergy. Church statistics do not record the ages of clergy and Religious, but it is estimated that half these Church workers are above 65.

END