For over 30 years, Columbans have been working in the TaiAn Pastoral Area of Hsinchu Diocese in Miaoli County in central Taiwan. The Pastoral Area is composed of eight villages located along the DaAn River in steep mountainous terrain. Each village contains approximately 50 families and a Catholic chapel. The people are Indigenous of the Atayal Tribe, the men are famed for hunting and warfare, and the women for weaving. The local people earn a livelihood working on their farms, which produce vegetables, fruit, and an annual harvest of bamboo shoots. There are four elementary schools, but children must go outside the area to attend Middle and High School.
The pastoral team's work is to provide pastoral care, engage with the Indigenous people in protecting and restoring biodiversity, and encourage the local people to value and pass down their spirituality, culture, language, and traditions.
The current missionary team is made up of Lay Missionary Bae Sihyeon, co-worker Binay, who is the parish secretary, Fr. Joseph McSweeny and Besu, a catechist employed by the diocese. We work together with a pastoral council consisting of representatives from the eight villages.
Each Sunday there is Mass or Eucharistic liturgy in each village. During the week members in each village visit a family’s house for prayers and hymns, followed by a communal meal.
We have an annual week-long summer camp for children. The camp focuses on catechism classes, preparation for the Sacraments, and training altar servers. In each village, we are training people to visit the sick and offer communion services. During Mass and House Prayers, we introduce prayers and songs in the Atayal language.
One of the major events each year is our Christmas celebration, which includes going from house to house carolling, Mass, baptisms, games and dancing. Another major event is the rituals for the dead held in July and August. These rituals offer an opportunity for communion between Indigenous faith and Christianity.
Meeting the pastoral needs of the people through the Sacraments and other ministries of the Church builds a spiritual foundation that deepens the people’s intimacy with God the Creator, and encourages them to take on leadership roles in the parish community.
We are engaging the local people in a parish centered ministry of Care for Creation, particularly the protection and restoration of biodiversity. The goal is to return land to a sustainable natural state while eliminating the use of chemical fertilisers. By providing education and living models of permaculture, we invite the local people to be actively involved and share their agricultural expertise. There are projects underway to return land to nature and create gardens, both producing fruits and vegetables for local consumption, and restoring plants that have become endangered in Taiwan.
Taiwan Mission Unit.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
