Our greatest concerns

Oct 21, 2016

The greatest concerns raised at the assembly and synods prior to PMPC IV in May were:

Islamisation

What they mean:
-- “All religions are different in name but lead to the same God” reflect a deficiency in our understanding of Catholic teachings. This means that there is a need for Catholics to be well-catechised in their own faith, as much as there is a need for them to learn about other faiths, in order to avoid being confused by conflicting religious teachings.
-- To know the true teachings of Malaysia’s Islam.
-- The threat of Islamisation especially for school-going children.
-- Conscientisation on subtle trends of Islamisation
-- Propagation of Religious freedom in the light of Islamisation, proselytisation and the lack of freedom of practising one’s faith.
-- Islamisation and the denial of our right to worship in freedom

Globalisation

What they mean:
-- Globalization is an ongoing, complex and ambivalent process that impacts as both bane and blessing on the world of politics, economics, communications, education, environment, technology, religion, culture, family, and values. The result is an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. Globalisation is quietly and relentlessly disseminating a relatively new culture that threatens cherished cultural values.

Secularisation

What they mean:
-- Continued tension between the law and spirit of the law; Influence of secular values; We have to grow spiritually, deepen the faith, to become a faith committed people; to help people to experience God, especially in the face of current difficult times. How strong is our faith in times of crisis?
-- Concern for youth. Their focus is more on secular life than spiritual life; Parents have to be guided and supported.

Corruption

What they mean:
--Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement,
-- Corruption in public life and growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

Our vision of the Church
There must be a paradigm shift in all our ministries. We must be a creative, inclusive and bridge building Church which is missionary and visionary.

Peninsular Malaysia Church

Vision - Mission Statement

Our Vision is:
--to be rooted in the Communion of the Trinity and among ourselves.
-- to be in Solidarity with the whole human family and creation.

This Vision leads us to living out our vocation to be at the service of the Kingdom of God.

Our Mission is:
--to Witness through Basic Ecclesial Communities founded on Christ and thus to transform our parishes into a ‘Communion of Communities.’
-- to Proclaim and Dialogue with cultures, religions and the poor.

For us, this means journeying together towards A New Way of Being Church.

--- Formulated at the Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Convention II (Aug 30 - Sept 2, 1996)---

Towards Building the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is larger than the Church. We, the Church, are called to proclaim Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who proclaimed the Kingdom of God.

As Pope Francis tweeted, Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven. How can we achieve this? We can do this by the faith that we have in our heart which must be lived. We have:

The challenges that we face
--Globalisation
--Climate change and the Environment
-- Secularism/Economic Policies/ Politics
-- Justice & Peace
-- Social media

The external life of the Church (ad-extra)
-- Education
-- Interreligious Dialogue
-- Integral Human Development
-- Islamisation

The inner Church life (ad-intra) – Building Communion of Communities (BECs)
-- Formation
-- Unity at all levels
-- Youth
-- Family Life