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From Xaverian Mission NewsletterMay 2008
“At the beginning of this learning journey, I had set three
objectives to be achieved, two of these being directly connected with the Tien
Educational Center Interreligious Dialogue Cooperation and Service Center
(TECIDCSC). First, we wanted to be acquainted with the many faces of religions
and religious groups of Taipei.
Second, we aimed at getting a grasp of the TECIDCSC office. Last, I wanted to be
familiar with the Chinese terminology in the field of interreligious dialogue.”
An African Missionary in Taiwan
Fr. Paulin Batairwa, a Xaverian Missionary from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, has been working in Taipei, Taiwan, where we have a small but vibrant
parish community of Catholics in a largely non-Christian society. He studied
theology at Maryhill School of Theology in the Philippines, and after his
ordination, was assigned to Taiwan where he is pursuing interreligious dialogue
as part of the commitment of the Xaverian Missonaries in Taiwan.
Crucial to Interreligious Dialogue
He goes on to say, after beginning this work in full earnest: “Although I have
not seen the vision mission statement of the TECIDCSC, it must necessarily
contains two key words: cooperation and service. These two experiences are
called to be the main (thrusts) of the dialogue and interaction TECIDCSC would
like to foster among religions.
“We Cooperate, We Serve” is more than a slogan, it is a portrayal of the
attitude of seeing the good and holy in other religions.”
The Chinese Religious World
Fr. Batairwa shares his feelings as he relates his initial interest in this new
work: “As a result of my assignment to Taiwan, my interest into the Chinese
religious world awoke. Once in Taiwan, I visited religious places out of
curiosity.
But, it became increasingly clear that I would focus on this as my missionary
work From then on, promoting a spirit of inter-religious dialogue and
cooperation among various religious groups became my missionary contribution.”
A Catholic Center for Dialogue
Fr. Paulin is looking into developing a Catholic Center of Dialogue. He hopes to
gather Catholics interested in reaching out to other religious faiths in
dialogue.
He sees this as a possibility for Catholics not only to be enriched by the
positive values of the main branches of Buddhist groups in Taiwan, as well as
others, but to be affirmed in their own identities as Catholic. When one enters
into dialogue with faiths other than our own, we must be grounded in our own
tradition. It is our tradition that we contribute to the dialogue in order to
understand more deeply those values we indeed share and the ways we can serve
together the community and world.
The Xaverian parish, which is the base of Fr. Paulin’s work, is called St.
Francis Xavier Parish and is the home of several hundred Catholics in the
largely non-Christian city of Taipei.
