USCCA Building Friendships in Belgium, Beginning with the October Study Tour (Registration Begins Today)
- USCCA Digital Communications Coordinator
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
by Peter Tan, Chair, USCCA Board of Directors
On June 10, 2025, my wife Selina and I paid a visit to the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation in Leuven, Belgium. We were welcomed by Verbiest Foundation Founder Fr. Jeroom Heyndrickx, CICM, and USCCA supporter Sr. Gaby. We were graciously housed at their Chinese College within the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), founded in 1425.
Fr. Jeroom and I had three sessions of discussions. He is very keen for our two organizations to collaborate on many programs like China tours, conferences, lectures and written articles on the Church in China. He instructed Sr. Gaby and Fr. Matthew Gong (he was in China at the time) to work closely with us.
Our first project will be the Study Tour from October 11–23, 2025. This Study Tour's agenda includes such destinations as Beijing North Cathedral, Chengde Imperial Summer Resort, and Shenyang Forbidden City. If you are interested in participating, we invite you to register for the study tour today.
Fr. Jeroom founded the Verbiest Foundation in 1982, seven years before the USCCA's founding. Its mission, in many ways, is quite similar to the USCCA's, although it is a much bigger entity, doing more. I am looking forward to the USCCA working with them.
Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, Peter Tan is the Chair of the USCCA Board of Directors. He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1977 with a double BA Degree in Business Administration and Political Science. He is a Knight Commander with Star of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
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