HONG KONG (SE): Organisations connected with the Catholic Church sponsoring exhibits at the annual Hong Kong Book Fair, which is traditionally held during July at the Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, were upbeat on the opening day.
 
Running this year from July 19 to 25, Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung opened the Catholic exhibition with a blessing ceremony on the first morning of the fair.
 
He encouraged people manning the booths to talk with all comers and share their experiences and knowledge of the gospels and faith life with them.
 
The Catholic exhibition was run this year under the theme of Respect Marriage, Love Family and Value Life, which has been named as the official pastoral emphasis for the diocese this year. 
 
Bishop Yeung said people need to learn to be understanding of others in their everyday dealings and to place their trust in God, which he called the key to forming solid and healthy family relationships.
 
The theme adopted by the Book Fair for this year was travel and the bishop said that this is also an encouragement to people to travel with an open mind and be ready to learn from places and people that are different from Hong Kong and ourselves.
 
Students from a summer course being run at in St. Jude’s parish in North Point and from St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School in Diamond Hill also took part in the opening blessing ceremony.
 
An area was reserved outside the booth of the Diocesan Pastoral Commission for Marriage and the Family, which held sessions on topics related to marriage, family and life.
 
A small stage was also set up for I-talk sessions, in which some religious personnel and lay people were invited to join in discussions about their lives. It involved a series of sharing on a wide variety of topics.