Remembering our ancestors <br/><br/>

Chinese New Year will fall on January 22 this year. May vitality and God’s blessings be with you all in the New Year! The fourth day of Chinese New Year will be a Sunday. At 12:15pm on that day, we shall celebrate the New Year with a special ceremony to honour our ancestors. Yours truly will be the presider of the ceremony, with Fathers Paul Pang and Anthony Huang as the concelebrants.<br/><br/>

Ancestor worshipping is a traditional ceremony, and is part of the Chinese culture. We do this to pay respect to our dead mentors, and in remembrance of deceased family members. Jesuit missionaries who were serving in China during the Ching Dynasty had doubts about ancestor worshipping. Kang Xi, the 4th Emperor of the Ching Dynasty, responded to their inquiries and said, “Ancestor worshipping is based purely on Chinese heritage, and there is no element of superstition involved.” Kang Xi even appealed to the Pope Clement IX in writing, to express his views on ancestor worshipping.<br/><br/>

Due to cultural differences, some missionaries continued to believe that ancestor worshipping was a pagan practice. The whole knotty question was settled in 1742 by a Bull of Pope Benedict XIV, "Ex quo singulari" condemning the Chinese ceremonies. From that time on, missionaries to China had to take an oath not to discuss at any time the terms of the Bull.<br/><br/>

After many twists and turns, however, Pius XII authorized the Church of China to practice ancestor worshipping once again, in December 8, 1939.<br/><br/>

The former Cardinal Yu-pin commented, “The celebrated quarrel on rites and ceremonies lasted for more than 200 years, and brought about both positive and adverse consequences. On the bright side, the “purity” of Catholicism is preserved. Unfortunately, the conflict was a terrible blow to the missions in China.”<br/><br/>

Regardless, let us all treasure the ancestor worshipping ceremony, which showcases the uniqueness and the richness of our Chinese traditional culture.