FABC Communication I N F O FEDERATION OF ASIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES - OFFICE OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION P.O. Box 2036, Manila 1099 Philippines OSC Tel: (+63 2) 732 7170, 338 7769 Fax: (+63 2) 732 7171 Email:
[email protected] t Vol. XXVII, No. 7 July 2012 PAKISTAN: FORMING THE LAITY AND PROMOTING SINGAPORE: ARCHBISHOP ON DRESSING FOR MASS CHRISTIAN MEDIA FOR MISSION Archbishop Nicholas Chia sent a document to all priests on June The formation of the laity is “important” as is “their 25 on the topic of dressing in Church. “Rather than proposing a involvement” in the life of the Church and society in Pakistan. dress code,” said the archbishop in an accompanying letter, the To achieve this goal all available resources must be employed document “aims at giving a description of the spirit conducive to including “institutes dedicated to pastoral work,” says Fr. Joseph worship, providing a welcoming note, and avoiding any (Joe) Joyce, an Irish priest of the Society of St. Columban for prohibitive language.” In the document, he said, “how we choose Foreign Missions. Working in Pakistan since September 1982, he to dress may express our own understanding and values about summarizes the challenges facing Catholics today and the answers how we approach the Eucharist. How we dress also affects those to promoting faith and contributing to national growth. To this around us … and there is a level of decorum that is expected of end, he tells AsiaNews that the role of the media must be exploited everyone who would like to participate in such great a mystery...” within society and in particular the potential offered by television “Let the sole criteria be that it is our response to being present at and radio.