On behalf of the French Catholic community of Hong Kong, I am delighted to welcome you to this beautifully restored chapel at Rosary Hill. Thank you for accepting to celebrate this mass with us at the beginning of this new year.
It also provides us with the opportunity of welcoming our French-speaking partners in Hong Kong and presenting you all with every good wishes for the new year.
We are all devastated and shocked after the recent barbaric events in Paris and the cold-blooded assassination of the Charlie Hebdo team. We need to ask ourselves how we can stand up against such savage and barbaric attacks. Pray for the victims of this attack, pray for peace in the world, pray for each one to know what to do and say. Yes, pray, pray, pray.
Our grateful thanks go to the French Consul, Mr Arnaud Barthélemy, and the Canadian Consul, Mr Burchett – who I am very pleased to welcome here tonight. Your presence here demonstrates a real desire for peace, intellectually, politically and spiritually.
The Christian faith calls us to unconditional forgiveness but we must remain vigilant in relation to intolerance and the non-respect of human dignity. Such are my wishes to you and your families at the beginning of this New Year.