The Executive Yuan approved the national languages development plan, launched a plan (原住民族教會推動族語發展獎勵計畫) to encourage priests and pastors to use indigenous languages to preach, and provided incentives. A French priest, Joseph Du (杜晉善) from Paris is actively learning the Amis language, hoping to share the love of Christ with indigenous friends.
Nearly all indigenous communities have Catholic, Presbyterian, or other churches, and more than 300 churches in Taiwan have applied for foreign priests to come to Taiwan to preach, which is important for language preservation and cultural inheritance, according to the chairman of the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Fr. Joseph Du, who is French, learns Amis language to promote preaching in indigenous language.Photo reproduced from 花蓮news全民視頻
In the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (德安天主堂), Father Joseph Du from Missions étrangères de Paris (巴黎外方傳教會) serves a priest. He studied Amis for two years in Hualien and was fluent in French, Italian, English, and Chinese. He speaks the Gospel openly in Amis, but he is still unable to communicate with the Amis locals in their language with ease.
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The indigenous people who under the age of 60, in Fr. Joseph Du's opinion, barely speak their own ethnic language, thus they still need to use Mandarin or Hokkien to converse.
To encourage the growth of indigenous languages, French priests deliver sermons in native tongues.Photo provided by Council of Indigenous Peoples
The mother tongue and culture of the indigenous community have been protected by the church for the past 70 years, according to the head of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (德安天主堂). The elders and priests of the community carry the responsibility of passing down culture and ethnic language in addition to their roles as priests.
