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with the title of Vicar Apostolic, and in 1946 the status of the Church was raised to that of a Diocese, extending into China.

There are twelve Roman Catholic parishes with public churches on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, and another seven churches in different parts of the New Territories. The Church also administers over 90 schools, some with an English programme of studies, others teaching only in Chinese.

The work of the Roman Catholic Church is carried on by priests of many nationalities some engaged in parish work, others working in schools and at the University. There are about 400 nuns belonging to various religious orders engaged in charitable and educational work in hospitals, schools and homes for orphans, blind girls, cripples and the aged.

Many of the principal missions have their Far Eastern administrative headquarters in the Colony where they have extensive buildings and other property. There are a number of important

Catholic seminaries on Hong Kong Island.

The

The Colony is as varied in religion as it is in all other aspects of its life. The majority of the Chinese in Hong Kong adhere to their traditional family observances, but there is a well-organized Christian minority, of which about 20,000 are Protestants and 40,000 Catholics. The Colony is the seat of several Buddhist monasteries, the most important of which are in the western part of Lantao Island. branch of Buddhism chiefly followed is the Mahayana, although on Lantao there are a small number of Hinayana institutions. Most of these monasteries are dependent for their upkeep upon charitable gifts and income earned from tourists and visitors using their rest houses. There are no large Taoist monasteries.

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The greater part (about 1,100) of the Indian population in Hong Kong is Muslim. The first mosque was built in 1850 on the present mosque site in Shelley Street; the existing construction dates from 1915 when the original mosque was entirely rebuilt. In 1870 the Muslims founded their own cemetery in Happy Valley, their dead having until then been buried in the Breezy Point area above the Western district of Victoria. A second mosque was built in 1896, in Nathan Road, Kowloon, but in 1902 was transferred to the care of the military authorities for use by Indian troops.

The Sikh community, numbering about 300, has had a temple in Hong Kong since the eighteen-seventies. The building was demolished during the Japanese occupation and has since been rebuilt; it is situated in Gap Road.

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