On the occasion of their 5th virtual Meeting on March 15th , 2022, the Asian Kolping Associations (AsiKA) had the pleasure to welcome the new General Praeses Msgr Christoph Huber. AsiKA members are India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor- Leste and Vietnam. Still, the Corona- situation in the region and globally does not allow immediate travel and personal encounter. Nevertheless, the motto is: don’t miss a chance of a virtual gathering to get to know each other and exchange views.
In a nutshell, Msgr Huber elaborated on the relevance of getting together and to join hands, being a family and a community. Family bonds are thicker than merely friendship. This is experienced right now in the case of war in the Ukraine. Huge solidarity among all Kolping families all over the world is appreciated by the Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Msgr Huber also called on the inspiring value of Laudato si as guiding document for the solidarity but also for the implementation of activities. He said that Kolping international as global family understands itself as umbrella for all the concerns and sorrows of the members, taking care that none of them is lost. In response to this inspiring input, the AsiKA members highlighted specific experiences in the context of their work, from engagement in Synodal process to dealing with war and conflict, refugee crisis, reconciliation and reconstruction.
The meeting continued on the Synodal process in each country and the involvement of Kolping families. This involvement is seen as a responsibility to the church community rooted in the teaching of Fr Adolph Kolping. Another sharing experience was on the diversity and richness of Public Relation work in the Asian countries. Each national Association uses different channels of PR- work in order to describe the value of the community- oriented development and spiritual work of the Kolping families.
No need mentioning that we all look forward to a meeting in presence as soon as possible! AsiKA ‘s last meeting in 2019 was hosted by Kolping Vietnam. We are still hopeful that a regular meeting towards the end of 2022 can take place. The new national team of Kolping Philippines would be happy to host.
Hildegard Hagemann
