| TITLE : 50th Anniversary celebrations 28th June 2003 |
TEXT : Dear Albert,
Thank you for your kind invitation to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Guild of St. Luke, St Cosmas & St. Damian Hong Kong. Unfortunately I have prior commitments including the launching of our East Timor mission and will not be able to join your members on this joyous occasion.
I have always felt a kinship to the your Guild as my mother wqs born in Hong Kong and my father completed his medical education there. Furthermore I was baptised and named after the late Fr. Fergus Cronin, a Jesuit who spent most of his life in Hong Kong. As such Hong Kong is my spiritual birthplace and I would dearly have loved to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
On behalf of the World Federation (FIAMC) and Asian Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, I would like to offer our warmest congratulations on this momentous occasion. Few organisations can boast of having such a long history, athough at times I am sure that there were literally "two or three gathered in my name". That the Guild has not only survived but has become an important component of the Catholic community is indeed a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit .
In the 80's and 90's Hong Kong was at the forefront of the prolife movement in Asia. A couple, Drs. Irene Osman and Ramon Ruis were the coordinators of the IFFLP (International Federation for Family Life Promotion). However with the preoccupation with the return of Hong Kong to China the Guild became less active regionally. In recent years under your capable leadership and that of your predecessor, Rebecca the Guild has started to come out of its hibernation. I am sure that with the blessings of the Holy Spirirt and the intercession of our blessed mother, Mary the Guild will continue to flourish and play a more active role in the international family and in particular the Asian community. I hope especially that your members will be able to participate in the many humanitarian missions in this part of the world.
Please send my warmest regards and congratulations to each and every member of our family of Catholic physicians in Hong Kong and I hope to meet many of you in Taiwan in 2004 at the 13th AFCMA Congress.
Yours in Christ,
John Lee
President, AFCMA |
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