The Roman Catholic Community

The Roman Catholic Church has been present since Hong Kong's earliest
days. The church was established as a mission prefecture in 1841 and as
an apostolic vicariate in 1874. It became a diocese in 1946.

In 1969, Francis Chen-peng Hsu was installed as the first Chinese bishop
of the Hong Kong diocese, and he was succeeded in 1973 by Peter
Wang-kei Lei. The present bishop, John Baptist Cheng-chung Wu, was
consecrated in 1975, and was made Cardinal in 1988. In December 1996,
two bishops were ordained to assist the Cardinal - Joseph Ze-kiun Zen as
the Coadjutor Bishop and John Hong Tong as the Auxiliary Bishop.

About 242 500 people, or nearly 4 per cent of the population, are
Catholics. They are served by 326 priests, 75 brothers, and 559 sisters.
There are 60 parishes and 33 centres for Mass. Most services and other
religious activities are conducted in Chinese, with a few churches
providing services in English.

The diocese has established its own administrative structure while
maintaining traditional links with the Pope and other Catholic communities
around the world. It uses the same scriptures and has similar ecclesial
communions as in the universal church throughout the world, with which
it maintains close fellowship. The assistant secretary-general of the
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference has his office in Hong Kong.

Along with its apostolic work, the diocese is concerned with the well-
being of all the people of Hong Kong. The 329 Catholic schools and
kindergartens have about 280 150 pupils. The Catholic Board of
Education assists in this area. Medical and social services include six
hospitals, 17 clinics, 14 social centres, 10 hostels, 24 homes for the aged,
15 homes for the handicapped and many self-help clubs and associations.
Caritas is the official social welfare arm of the church in Hong Kong.
Services are open to all people - indeed, 95 per cent of those who have
benefited from the wide range of services provided by the diocese are not
Catholics.

The diocese publishes two weekly newspapers, Kung Kao Po and The
Sunday Examiner. The Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre produces tapes and
films for use in schools and parishes and the Hong Kong Catholic Social
Communications Office acts as an overall information and public relations
channel for the diocese.

 

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