RELIGION AND CUSTOM
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until today there are close to 500 churches and chapels, grouped together in some 60 denominations and sect groups. The number of Christians in Hong Kong is estimated at about 420,000-slightly over 10 per cent of the total population. Of these, just over one half are Catholic, and slightly less than half, Protestant. There is an annual in- crease in church membership of about four per cent. New churches and chapels are being established in new housing estates and satellite towns.
The great majority of the congregations in Hong Kong are Chinese speaking, mostly Cantonese and a few Mandarin, but about 16 churches hold services in English, German and Japanese to minister to the needs of the various communities. The major world denominations are represented in the Adventists, Anglicans, Alliance, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals and Roman Catholics, while churches of a Pres- byterian type are joined in the Church of Christ in China. In addition, there are a number of non-denominational churches.
The Protestant Churches are responsible for more than 250 primary schools, and over 130 middle schools and colleges throughout the territory and the number is increasing nearly every year. They also sponsor a variety of service programmes, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, family casework centres, vocational training centres, aid for the handicapped and many others. In the past, a large percentage of these projects was financed almost entirely from overseas sources, but this is decreas- ing and local support must now take over.
Churches which are affiliated to the World Council of Churches come together with other Christian organisations (such as the YMCA, the YWCA and the Bible Society) in the Hong Kong Christian Council. Established in 1954, the council's headquarters, known as the Christian Centre, houses the offices of the Hong Kong Christian Service, Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, Chinese Christian Literature Council and the Audio Visual Evangelism Committee. The facilities include an ecumenical library and a conference room. The Hong Kong Christian Council's 42 members represent 77 per cent of the total Protestant Church membership in Hong Kong.
In the same building is the old-established Chinese Churches Union, in which churches are linked on a congregational basis. The union now numbers 145 congrega- tions in its membership.
The Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong dates back to the very beginning of the British Crown Colony when British Army chaplains were among the first to arrive here. On April 23, 1841, Pope Gregory XVI established the Apostolic Prefecture of Hong Kong with Msgr Theodore Joset as the first Prefect. He built a matshed church at what is now the intersection of Wellington and Pottinger Streets, established a seminary for the training of Chinese priests, and persuaded religious sisters to voyage out here to start schools, hospitals, creches and other welfare work.
The first Chinese Bishop of the 131-year-old Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong, the Most Rev Francis Chen-ping Hsu, was formally installed on October 26, 1969. Almost two years later, on September 8, 1971, the Most Rev Peter Wang-kei Lei was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong.