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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

The Roman Catholic Church was until 1874 administered by a Prefect Apostolic. In that year a Bishop was appointed 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 churches on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, and about thirty churches in different parts of the New Territories. The Church administers 76 schools, some with an English pro- gramme of studies, others with a Chinese curriculum. Due to enlargements of existing buildings and the opening of new ones during 1955, the total number of pupils in Catholic schools now exceeds 33,000. The most recent estimate of the Catholic population in the Colony (30 June) is 73,499.

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 500 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. There are a number of important Roman Catholic seminaries on Hong Kong Island.

Welfare work carried out under the auspices of the Church is wide and varied. A mobile clinic run by the Catholic Welfare Committee visits eight different places each week and treats 2,400 cases monthly. There are 13 welfare centres, with resident staffs, in the refugee and resettlement areas. Schools are maintained in connexion with each of them, with an aggregate of more than 5,000 pupils. During the year a new church and school for the Shamshuipo area was built in Shek Kip Mei Street, Kowloon, and schools were opened at Chuk Yuen Resettlement and at Fook Wah Village, Ngau Tau Kok.

There is a small Russian Orthodox congregation, divided into adherents who recognize the present Patriarch of Moscow and others who do not. The former have their own Church, founded in 1934. The latter, who have intercommunion with the Anglican Church, hold their services in the Church Hall of St. Andrew's Kowloon, and are known as the Orthodox Church.