Apostolic Nuncio hopes Pope's visit will help Thai Church 'identity crisis'

By Francesca Merlo

Catholics in Thailand number less than 400,000. Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Marie Duhamel, Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam, Apostolic Nuncio to Thailand, describes them as a “small community”. They are “less than 0.6% of the population”, he said, describing them as “a small minority in the big ocean of Buddhist compatriots”.

The Church's contribution

Although it is small, he continues, the Church in Thailand “has its own contributions towards society”. In a “short summary of the Catholic Church” Archbishop Tschang describes the work done in the education field.

He said that the Catholic Church runs more than 370 Catholic schools, “from elementary to university” level, educating over 500,000 students. Therefore, even though the number of Catholics is small, said Archbishop Tschang, the number of young people who are educated in Catholic schools is much higher.

There is also a lot of work done in the health section, said Archbishop Tschang, describing the work that the “catholic hospitals and clinics” do for the people.

Likewise, the Catholic Church is “engaged” in helping people in need through charitable works. These range from people suffering from HIV/AIDS to migrants and refugees, whom Archbishop Tschang describes as “beneficiaries of the charity work of the Catholic Church”.

An identity crisis

Archbishop Tschang said that he believes the biggest challenge the Church is facing in Thailand is the question of identity.

He explained that Buddhism is the most numerous religion in the country, and that “the biggest religion is considered the ‘official’ religion”.

People consider Buddhism to be part of the Thai identity, he explained, and therefore “even today” some people consider Christianity “as a ‘foreign’ religion”, he said, “coming from the European world”. So in some sense, he said, “to become Christian means to say ‘no’ to their own identity”.

So it is “our prayer and our wish”, said Archbishop Tschang, that the Pope’s visit may become an “occasion, first of all, to give thanks to God, for all the missionary work and evangelising efforts of the first missionaries who gave their lives for the Church here in Thailand”.

However, he continued, it is also “an occasion for our missionary vocation to be reawakened”.

“As we are all aware,” continued Archbishop Tschang, Pope Francis is also recognised by non-Catholic people “as a sort of world leader”.

A propher for all

The Apostolic Nuncio explained that Pope Francis “is considered as a prophet”, bringing a message of “peace, mercy, pardon and reconciliation.”

Archbishop Tschang said the Pope also reminds us of the “fundamental, authentic, human value on which we are all called to build our common home”: a just society in which all people are respected and in which all people respect each other.

Finally, Archbishop Tschang expressed his “hope and prayer” that these messages of Pope Francis’ will “encourage all our Catholic faithful… and all the population of Thailand”.