By Ivy Chai
KUCHING — The Archdiocese of Kuching held a forum on 12 August 2023 at the Grand Hall, ACCPC to review the progress of implementation of the Parish Pastoral Plans (PPP) which were presented by each of the 12 parishes at the Kuching Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly (KAPA2) held on 1-2 October 2022.
350 delegates (priests, religious, parish councillors and lay leaders) from parishes and Archdiocesan commissions had congregated to listen, discern and dialogue on the way forward in the spirit of synodality as a Missionary Church.
The recent Post KAPA2 Forum commenced with Holy Mass presided by Fr Patrick Heng, Chairman of Kuching Archdiocese Synod Central Working Committee (CWC), with all priests who attended the forum concelebrating.
Fr Patrick urged everyone to have faith in each other. “We must trust each other, journey together as a community so God’s work can be done together,” he said.
Archbishop Simon Poh although unable to be present, was there in spirit. In a video message, he encouraged delegates to “bring the plans” discussed, in prayer to the Lord during the Year of Prayer 2024.
Review of Synod-KAPA2-MPC2026 Journey
Fr Patrick gave a recap of the Synodal Journey commencing 2021 to 2024 by reflecting on its universal launch in October 2021 by Pope Francis and working its way down to the national and local archdiocesan levels.
The Catholic Churches in Malaysia will continue the Synodal Journey, with the three regions (Semenanjung, Sabah and Sarawak) uniting together as one Malaysia Church at the Malaysia Pastoral Convention (MPC2026) in Majodi Centre in Johor on 9-13 September 2026.
Fr Patrick further updated delegates on the Synod-KAPA2-MPC2026 Roadmap and encouraged parishes to adopt the ‘See-Judge-Act’ methodology to track progress of implementation, mitigate gaps and readjust their plans where necessary to meet the needs of the community and church.
They are to plan for 2024, ‘Review, Reflect, Realign, Renew, Reprioritise’ quick fix, medium and long-term strategies. With the launch of the 2024 Ecology Year (Laudato Si), parishes will also have to incorporate the Ecology initiatives into their PPP.
A further deliberation on the Parish Pastoral Plan (PPP) implementation status and 2024 budget will be carried out to consolidate and endorse the outcome of the PPP reviews before presenting it to the APC 52nd Executive Board Meeting on 9 December 2023.
Embracing Year of Ecology (2023-2024)
Friar David Au, Chairperson of Creation Justice Committee presented the essence of Ecological Protocol and what it means to parishes. This includes a pledge to become an Ecological parish. The announcement will be made in September in conjunction with World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation.
Frair David also launched the Bunan Resilience Project with a short video of the pilot project in the parish of St Jude, Bunan. The video showcased fresh food products available for online order, with delivery only at designated collection points of participating local parishes.
The project aims to supply urban consumers fresh, local produce grown by the farmers of Bunan, hence helping local farmers become more economically resilient in facing mounting uncertainty brought about by climate change and other threats to nature.
The plenary concluded with a Q&A session, closing prayer and fellowship lunch.
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