In a new year’s message, Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, of Hong Kong called upon the faithful to see themselves as missionary “messengers of hope.”
“It is true that we have lost incoming lay leaders and their children through emigration, partly due to the enactment of the National Security Law,” he said, referring to the 2020 law signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The number of catechumens and baptisms has dropped to almost half of what it used to be.”
Cardinal Chow described feelings of discouragement over the situation as “temptations of the evil one to make us feel hopeless and dejected.”