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RELIGION AND CUSTOM
Roman Catholics in Hong Kong number about 259,000. They are served by 348 priests (127 Chinese and 221 of other nationalities); 101 Brothers (41 Chinese and 60 of other nationalities); and 758 Sisters (491 Chinese and 267 of other nationalities), belonging to 11 different religious congregations. There are 64 parishes with resident priests. Services are in Chinese, with a few churches providing some services in English. At St Joseph's Church, on Hong Kong Island, all services are in English.
In recent years there has been a greater involvement of the laity in all matters. In order to promote better co-ordination between various groups, they are organised under a body called the Central Council of the Catholic Laity. The central council includes such bodies as the long-established Society of St Vincent de Paul, the widely-spread Legion of Mary, which has units of its organisation in nearly every parish, and such professional groups as the Catholic Doctors Guild and the Catholic Nurses Guild. A variety of youth organisations such as the Catholic Students Press Group, the Christian Life Communities, and many others are co-ordinated under the Catholic Youth Council, a parallel organisation to the Central Council of the Catholic Laity.
The concern for involving people of goodwill in the support of worthwhile causes resulted in the setting up, a few years ago, of a diocesan Commission for Non-Christian Religions and a diocesan Ecumenical Commission. As well, the Church's interest in developing better means of communicating its message has resulted in the recent establishment of the Hong Kong Catholic Social Communications Office.
The Catholic Church was officially set up in Hong Kong when Pope Gregory XVI established the Apostolic Prefecture of Hong Kong in April, 1841. The first Prefect, Monsignor Theodore Joset, built a matshed church at what is now the intersection of Wellington and Pottinger Streets in Central District. He established a seminary for training Chinese priests and persuaded religious sisters to come to Hong Kong to start schools and creches and to carry out welfare work.
In 1867, the Pontifical Institute of the Foreign Missions of Milan took charge of the Prefecture, with Monsignor T. Raimondi as Prefect - later becoming Bishop. This institute remained responsible for the Church in Hong Kong for 102 years. In 1969, responsibility was transferred to the Diocesan Clergy, with Bishop Francis Chen-peng Hsu as the first Chinese Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong.
Bishop Hsu, who died in 1973 at the age of 52, was succeeded by Bishop Peter Wang-kei Lei who died the following year, aged 51. The third Chinese Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop John Baptist Cheng-chung Wu, was consecrated and installed by Cardinal Angelo Rossi in the Hong Kong Catholic Cathedral in July, 1975.
Protestant
The Protestant community in Hong Kong numbers about 150,000. This is based on a recent survey of 591 congregations and missions by the Economic and Public Affairs Office of the Hong Kong Christian Council.
The 1979 Hong Kong Church Directory lists 50 denominations and independent groups. These include the familiar major traditions such as Adventist, Anglican, Alliance, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Salvation Army and Pentecostal, plus the Church of Christ in China representing the Presbyterian and Congregational traditions. The churches are responsible for more than 250 primary schools, some 130 middle schools, and two post-secondary colleges. The training of church leaders is carried out by several seminaries and Bible schools.