By Ivy Chai
KUCHING — 350 delegates congregated at the ACCPC St Joseph’s Grand Hall on 1-2 October for the Kuching Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly (KAPA) 2022. The last KAPA-1 was held five years ago (2017).
Delegates comprised Archbishop Simon Poh, Archbishop Emeritus John Ha, APC board, commissions and committees, priests, religious, seminarians, parish councillors, and lay leaders from the Archdiocese of Kuching.
Objective of KAPA
The Pastoral Assembly aimed to provide an avenue for God’s people to come together to listen and discern in communion with the Holy Spirit. To consult and participate, to shape and realise the pastoral vision and mission of the Church, so that it remains resilient, vibrant, and progressive in continuing the mission of Christ.
We are the Church, disciples of the Word, in communion for Mission
KAPA-2 is a continuation of the Synodal Journey launched last year. It commenced with an Opening prayer led by Fr Patrick Heng, Chairman of the Central Working Committee.
APC Chairperson Christina Eng, in her welcoming address to the delegates, outlined the purpose of the Assembly, the process already undertaken, and the role each delegate is expected to play.
“The Church is constantly facing challenges, both old and new, which we must rise to face, but only with the help of the Holy Spirit. That is the reason for all the activities and exercises we have recently undertaken, from the questionnaires to the Pre-Synod Assembly, the PPA and today – KAPA. Together with Archbishop Simon, our priests and religious and all of us present, and all whom we represent, we are the Church and we need to listen to one another as the Holy Spirit speaks to us and through us,” she said.
Jesuit priest, Fr Alvin Ng later led the Holy Hour with a meaningful Spiritual Reflection that reminded delegates to “open our eyes”(both physical and spiritual) to the needs of those around us.
The first day’s session ended with a fellowship dinner.
Spiritual Conversation
Delegates embarked on a journey of Spiritual Conversation after being presented a Synthesis of Post PPA Reports by Dr Margaret Chan on Day-2. Guided by Perpetua Phang who outlined the two basic skills for Spiritual Conversation, namely Listening with the heart and Speaking from the heart, delegates in small breakout groups, were told to share their feelings, reflections, and call to action from the synthesis reports.
Where do we go from here?
At the conclusion of KAPA-2, Christina Eng said in summary, the outcome from the reports over the two days pointed to a consensus to focus on the Family, which “is under severe attack”. Other equally important tasks would be to look into Vocation to the priesthood and religious life, Islamisation, Care for and feed the poor, build Communion, to be Joyful disciples, to empower the Youth, and Faith formation which is currently ongoing.
Topping the priority lists from the KAPA Synthesis Reports are Faith formation, and the Family.
A concluding Mass with summation and commissioning by Archbishop Simon Poh was held to bring KAPA-2 to a close. Archbishop Emeritus John Ha and all priests who were present, concelebrated the closing Mass.
Archbishop Simon will table the KAPA 2022 Synthesis Reports at the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) to be held in Bangkok from 12-30 October 2022.
Captioned photos: Today's Catholic/ Shannon Wei
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