Minister General, Giacomi Bini and Definitors Jose R. Carballo and Xavier Yu graced the EAC Annual meeting in Hong Kong on July 19-23, 1998. The provincial ministers together with the mission secretaries of the East Asia Conference held their annual meeting in Hong Kong on July 19-23, 1998. Highlights of the meeting were the dialogue with the Minister General and two definitors general, the talks on the Asian Synod and on missions in the region, the report on the proposed re-structuring in the Order, the sharing on the situation of each Province along the priorities of the Order, possible ways of collaboration, and the election of new officers.

The meeting was graced with the presence of Br. Giacomo Bini (minister general), Br. Xavier Yu (definitor general for FCAO), Br. Jose Rodriguez Carballo (definitor general and secretary general of formation and studies), Br. Ambrogio Nguyen Van Si (resource person) and Br. Abraham Chiu (resource person).

In the dialogue, the Minister General reminded the friars about the priorities of the Order: If we deepen our love for the Lord, then communion of life in fraternity as well as life in minority, poverty and solidarity will be enhanced, and our works for evangelization and mission and efforts in the formation will be revitalized. Restoring and deepening our love for the Lord is the true way of implementing the priorities. The two definitors general were in unison with the Minister General in emphasizing the priorities of the Order. Br. Jose, general secretary of formation and studies, emphasized the following points: the present priorities of the Order as the fundamental aspect of Franciscan formation, and the following of Jesus Christ according to the Rule and life of St. Francis as the goal of Franciscan formation.

On his part, Br. Xavier, the FCAO definitor general, shared his reflections on the priorities of the Order by taking Chapter 21 of the Gospel according to St. John. He also explained among other announcements that "one of the main jobs which General Definitors have is to animate our Franciscan life in each entity... I want to attend not only the meeting of ministers provincial, but also, if possible, other important meetings in our two conferences, i.e. meetings of formators of the conference. I will be grateful to you if you will let me know about them in the future."

Ambrogio Nguyen Van Si gave his reflections on the recently held Asian Synod (Rome, April-May 1998) which he as a peritus attended. He started his talk by citing relevant information and figures about the Church in Asia. Then he narrated the synodal process and his own personal experiences. The main part of his talk focused on the important issues of the Synod under the theme, "Asian Ways of Being Church." Among others he emphasized the following images to which the Church in Asia is called to be: as a spiritual reality, as a Church of dialogue and communion (with other religions, with and within oneself, dialogue with cultures, and communion within the Church and solidarity with others), a servant Church and a missionary Church.

Reflecting on the talks given by the Minister General, the two definitors and the resource persons, the participants shared the following insights: The spirit of prayer and devotion is to be the most important aspect of the initial and ongoing formation. There is a need to contextualize this in the Asian context; or, an Asian model of contemplative life is to be developed. In the area of ongoing formation, there is a need to design a special program for young friars in the first five years after solemn profession. There is also a need to pay attention to the process of individual friars through the personal project.

Dialogue, which means charity or fraternal love, is to be fostered. There is a perception on the living witness of unity among the Minister General and the two definitors. They emphasized the same priorities. It was hoped that there is unity also among the provincial ministers and their definitorium. Finally, in the area of evangelization, the participants realized that Asians need good shepherds more than organizers, and prophetic witnesses more than just verbal "proclaimers."

The participants also discussed ways of strengthening collaboration in the conference. Among others, they pointed out the following: We should concretely help missions of the provinces in our conference, North Korea and Sri Lanka. For example, Sri Lanka invites friars to form international community and young friars for exposures. We also support the idea of Korea and Japan to found a mission in Mongolia. In view of the importance of the spirit of prayer and devotion, the Conference realizes the need to organize a course on Franciscan spirituality. The suggestion is for a Province (e.g., the Philippines through the Franciscan Institute of Asia) to design and try a good program. Later on, friars from other Provinces can be invited. This program is to be designed on a short-term basis (one to three months). Because of the problem of communication, the program should also begin with an English language course. Finally, the importance of information and communication among provinces was also reiterated. The EAC communication paper and the exchange program among provinces, especially for students and young professed friars are to be continued. Before the assembly, the provincial ministers also had opportunity to give reports on the situation of each province along the priorities of the Order. Afterwards, there were separate meetings of the provincial ministers and the mission secretaries to discuss their own concerns. Among others, the ministers re-elected Br. Oscar Ante as president and Joachim Maekawa as vice. Br. Rhonel de la Cruz was re-confirmed as the executive secretary of the EAC. The mission secretaries, most of whom were new in the office, spent time to familiarize themselves with their job description.

Among the participants were the provincial ministers: Br. Joachim Maekawa (Japan), Br. Leonardo Kim (Korea), Br. Oscar Ante (Philippines), Br. Peter Ho (Taiwan), and Br. Alexis Tran Duc Hai (Vietnam). The mission secretaries were Br. Job Toda (Japan), Br. Augustine Choi (Korea), Br. Alejo Villanueva (Philippines), and Br. Joseph Ha (Hong Kong). Also present were the following: Andreas Kiyonaga (conference secretary of formation and studies), Rhonel de la Cruz (EAC executive. secretary), and Almajo Bolipata (EAC office staff).