RELIGION AND CUSTOM
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The Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have a Joint Committee on Development, which plans joint action in areas of mutual concern, with official representation serving on each other's committees. Church leaders issue joint pastoral letters and various bodies of both groups co-operate on a number of mission and service projects.
During 1984, both churches gave consideration to their role in the future, especially after 1997. In August, the Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong issued a document detailing its commitment to Hong Kong and its future, and more than 200 Protestant churches and 44 Christian organisations produced a manifesto on their role. Copies of both documents were sent to the Chinese Government.
Roman Catholic Community
The Roman Catholic Church has been present in Hong Kong since the territory's early days. The church was established as a Mission Prefecture in 1841 and as an Apostolic Vicariate in 1874. It became a diocese in 1946.
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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 Chen-chung Wu, was consecrated in 1975.
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About 274 000 people, or five per cent of the population, are Catholics. They are served by 349 priests (142 Chinese and 207 of other nationalities), 79 Brothers (39 Chinese and 40 of other nationalities), and 790 Sisters (474 Chinese and 316 of other nationalities). There are 57 parishes and 48 centres for Mass. The majority of the 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 tradi- tional links with the Pope and with other Catholic communities around the world. The secretary-general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference has his office in Hong Kong. Along with its apostolic work, one of the prime concerns of the diocese has been for the well-being of all the people of Hong Kong. In education, there are 314 Catholic schools and kindergartens which have about 310 000 pupils. There is the Catholic Board of Education to assist in this area. The medical and social services include six hospitals, 17 clinics, 14 social centres, 14 hostels, 10 homes for the aged, three homes for the handicapped and many self-help clubs and associations. Caritas is the official social welfare arm of the church in Hong Kong.
These services are open to all people – indeed, 95 per cent of those who have benefitted from the wide range of services provided by the diocese are not Catholics.
To reach people through the media, the diocese publishes two weekly newspapers, Kung Kao Po and The Sunday Examiner. In addition, the Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre produces tapes and films for use in schools and parishes and, overall, the Hong Kong Catholic Social Communication Office acts as an information and public relations channel for the diocese.
Protestant Community
The Protestant community in Hong Kong comprises over 200 000 people. Major traditions represented are Adventist, Alliance, Anglican, Baptist, Church of Christ in China, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal and the Salvation Army as well as many independent and indigenous congregations. For the Anglicans, 1984 marked the 135th anniversary of their diocese and it was also the centenary year of the Methodist Church in Hong Kong.
The Protestants run 200 kindergartens, 175 primary schools, 120 secondary schools, three post-secondary colleges, three schools for the deaf, several for training the mentally