SHIJIAZHUANG (Fides): As China prepares to welcome the Lunar New Year, which will usher in the Year of the Horse on February 17, Catholic parishes across the country have seen an outpouring of families eager to join Eucharistic celebrations.
Worshippers have gathered to offer prayers of thanksgiving and to seek blessings for the coming year. Communities have also come together to light candles, set off firecrackers and fireworks, and share moments of fellowship.
In the weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year, Catholic communities throughout China have been actively engaged in a range of pastoral and charitable initiatives, reinforcing traditions associated with the festive season that begins in the 12th lunar month.
Through visible acts of compassion and service, these communities highlight the deep resonance between Christian values and longstanding Chinese virtues of supporting the vulnerable.
One prominent example is the Nanjing Ark Catholic Charitable Foundation, which, according to xinde.org, has launched a grassroots campaign to provide ‘a warm winter’ for those in need, including people with disabilities, blind children, former leprosy patients, and elderly individuals suffering from illness.
Working alongside civil organisations and partners, the foundation has donated 20,000 yuan to families with sick children and distributed 40 eye care kits to teenagers through its ‘Luminous Childhood’ initiative, jointly organised with a local eye hospital. Volunteers also visited the Municipal Centre for the Prevention of Occupational Diseases to aid former leprosy patients and delivered 50 new quilts to seniors in need.
Elsewhere, the Dengkou community in the Apostolic Prefecture of Lindong [Bayannur], Inner Mongolia, has promoted awareness and support activities for elderly residents living alone and students facing challenges, as part of the New Year observances.
The Diocese of Meizhou’s Sacred Heart of Charity Association is running solidarity campaigns to assist people experiencing hardship. In Wuxi City, the Taihu Catholic community has extended support to adults with autism by visiting rehabilitation centres to help ease loneliness and ensure everyone can enjoy the festive warmth shared by families.
Members of the Shanghai Catholic Intellectuals Association have visited nursing homes to deliver greetings and wishes of ‘joy, health, and warmth’ for the New Year.
Meanwhile, volunteers from the Tian’ai [Love of God] Association in the Archdiocese of Guangzhou have continued the tradition of supporting elderly people and those with disabilities, reaching out to both urban and remote communities.
According to Chinese astrology, the upcoming Year of the Horse is expected to bring optimism and achievement. The horse, as the seventh animal in the zodiac, is seen as a symbol of vitality, independence, confidence, and a free spirit.
