CHIFENG (Fides): A month after his ordination, Bishop Joseph Chang Yanfeng of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China, has been visiting parishes, celebrating the sacraments, and devoting himself to the administration of the diocese.
On August 27, Bishop Chang ordained a new diocesan priest. On August 23, he ordained a seminarian to the diaconate. The two ordinations, attended by the 38 diocesan priests, religious sisters, and many lay faithful, offered an image of a vibrant diocesan community.
Bishop Chang was ordained on July 22 [Sunday Examiner, August 2], after his appointment by Pope Leo XIV on June 15.
His vocational and academic formation, together with his long pastoral experience, make him particularly attentive and sensitive to the urgent need for vocational formation.
In his homilies on August 22 and 23, Bishop Chang urged the newly ordained deacons and priests to recognise that the heart of ecclesial ministry consists in imitating Christ, loving others with humility, and serving them wholeheartedly.
He expressed the hope that the new priests and deacons, by God’s grace, may remain “always faithful” to their vocation, exercising their ministry diligently and with generous and selfless dedication.
Vocations are also flourishing in other Chinese dioceses. On August 24, the feast of St. Bartholomew, Bishop Joseph Han Yingjin of Sanyuan, ordained two diocesan priests, while Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing, ordained three deacons from the Beijing Seminary, encouraging them to “believe what you proclaim, teach what you believe, and put into practice what you teach.”
