Catholic Church in Hong Kong

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Grotto at Catholic Centre in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong

The Catholic Church in Hong Kong (Chinese: 天主教香港教區), established in 1841, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. All Catholics in Hong Kong are under the Diocese of Hong Kong, which is a de jure suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Guangzhou. However, in practice it is an immediate subject of the Holy See.

There are approximately 389,000[1] Catholics in Hong Kong - around 5% of the total population - most being Latin Rite Catholics. The majority of the Hong Kong Catholics are Chinese. However, there are various national groups of Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Indian, French and German active Catholics. Sunday religious services are offered in 99 places, and there are 249[2] Catholic schools and 199[3] various social service centres.

The Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong is Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, SDB (Chinese: 陳日君). He is regarded by some to be politically 'controversial' due to his 'anti-Beijing' views and his strong ties with the pro-democracy camp. However, Zen has constantly personally maintained that he is very patriotic to his country, and that he has been upset that he has been denied the right to return to China.

Currently, the office of Bishop of Hong Kong is vacant, after the death of Michael Yeung Ming-cheung (Chinese: 楊鳴章), who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016.The Bishop Elect of Hong Kong Diocese is Fr. Stephen Chow SJ, who will be consecrated in December, 2021.[4]

The Cathedral of the Diocese of Hong Kong is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located on Caine Road, Mid Levels.

Political[]

Traditionally, Catholics in Hong Kong tend to support the pro-democracy camp, despite there also being many Catholics supporting the pro-Beijing camp. Former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang and current Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam are Catholics.

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Hong Kong Catholic Church Directory 2017, p.516
  2. ^ Hong Kong Catholic Church Directory 2017, p.517
  3. ^ Hong Kong Catholic Church Directory 2017, p.517
  4. ^ "Pope appoints Jesuit as new Bishop of Hong Kong - Vatican News". 17 May 2021.

References[]

Catholic Diocese in Hong Kong

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