His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, paid a ceremonial visit to Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Bishop of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, on Oct 19, marking a gesture of goodwill and fraternity between two ancient Christian traditions.
The Patriarch was accompanied by Bishop Mar Paulus Benjamin, head of the Eastern Diocese of the United States, and Bishop Mar Benjamin Elya, who oversees the Diocese of Victoria-New Zealand.
According to Kung Kao Po, the official Catholic weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Hong Kong, Cardinal Chow warmly welcomed the delegation and expressed appreciation for the Assyrian Church’s deep historical witness to the Christian faith. Both Church leaders exchanged views on pastoral challenges, vocations, and ways to strengthen Christian unity and mutual understanding in the region.
The Patriarch’s visit took place at the invitation of the Holy Spirit Seminary School of Theology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Chinese Christian Culture Research Institute at Tao Fong Shan. The occasion commemorated two important milestones in Church history: the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (AD 325) and the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the “Nestorian Stele”, a monument from the Tang Dynasty that records the early presence of Christianity in China.
Earlier, on October 17, Mar Awa III joined Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of Hong Kong and several other Christian leaders in a roundtable discussion at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit Seminary. Organized by the Theological Dialogue Group, the session focused on the significance of the Council of Nicaea from various denominational perspectives.
The meeting concluded with an ecumenical Vespers service, during which participants prayed together and recited the Nicene Creed using a unifying translation, a symbolic act of shared faith and hope among Christians of different traditions.
As Kung Kao Po reported, the visit and the dialogue underscored the importance of continued ecumenical efforts in fostering deeper understanding and collaboration among Christian communities in Asia.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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