Chinese participants on a course at the Ferdinand Verbiest Institute that aims to update them on evangelization methods and practices. In the center of the image is Father Jeroom J. Heyndrickx, the institute's director. (Photo supplied)
Thirty Chinese priests, religious and lay Catholics are currently participating in an eight-week course in Belgium organized by the Ferdinand Verbiest Institute.
Taught in Mandarin, the summer course is offered as a scholarship to candidates from China with the aim of encouraging them to study in fields directly related to evangelization.
"Methods of preaching and evangelizing in China need to be updated," said Father Jeroom Heyndrickx, director of the Ferdinand Verbiest Institute at KU Leuven.
"Moreover social ethics in China — as everywhere else — is a field where the church must contribute to meet the problems of modern society," said Father Heyndrickx.
The program includes courses on pastoral catechesis, Catholic social ethics, pastoral counseling, spirituality from East and West.
"Several alumni of Verbiest Institute returned to China after their studies and are now teaching these topics in their own dioceses and local pastoral centers where they organize formation sessions for priests, religious and lay faithful," he added.
Course participants are welcomed by Father Jan Reynebeau, Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scheut, Brussels and Father Jeroom J. Heyndrickx, director of the Ferdinand Verbiest Institute. (Photo supplied)
Pilgrimage
The summer course participants were welcomed by Father Jan Reynebeau, the provincial for the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scheut, Brussels on July 22.
As part of their first day, they were taken on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Theofiel Verbist, the founder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
They also commemorated the 679 missionaries from the congregation who evangelized in northern China; 250 of them are buried in Jehol, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Datong.
The course participants also visited the institute's photo gallery, which has images of more than 3,700 missionaries from the congregation who evangelized around the world.
Course participants conduct a pilgrimage to the tomb of Theofiel Verbist, the founder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Photo supplied)
Dedicated to dialogue
The summer course ends with a two-day forum on "Religion and the Rule of Law" which will be the beginning of an ongoing exchange program between Verbiest Institute KU Leuven and the Pu Shi Institute in Beijing. A more extended forum with speakers from China and European universities is planned for 2017.
The Ferdinand Verbiest Institute is named after Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688), a Flemish Jesuit-astronomer who spent time in the Chinese court during the Qing Dynasty. The institute is dedicated to dialogue between Europe and China.
