ENG-2002 — Page 452

RELIGION AND CUSTOM

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Methodist, Pentecostal and Salvation Army. With their emphasis on youth work, many congregations have a high proportion of young people.

Protestant organisations operate three post-secondary institutions: Chung Chi College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and Lingnan University. They run 158 secondary schools, 206 primary schools, 273 kindergartens and 116 nurseries. They also operate 16 theological seminaries and Bible institutes, 16 Christian publishing houses and 69 Christian bookshops.

They run seven hospitals with some 3 749 beds, 18 clinics and 59 social service. organisations which provide a wide range of social services, including 227 community, family service and youth centres, 74 day care centres, 17 children's homes, 35 homes for the elderly, 106 centres for the elderly, two schools for the deaf and one for the blind, and 47 training centres for the mentally handicapped and disabled. There are also 15 camp sites. Five international hotel-type guest houses are managed by the YMCA and YWCA.

More than 70 para-church agencies and various Christian action groups minister to the Protestant community and respond to current issues and concerns within Hong Kong society at large. The church supports emergency relief and development projects in developing countries. Two weekly newspapers, The Christian Weekly and The Christian Times, present news and comments from a Christian perspective.

Two ecumenical bodies facilitate cooperative work among the Protestant churches in Hong Kong. The older one, dating from 1915, is the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union with a membership of 275 congregations. The second cooperative body is the Hong Kong Christian Council, formed in 1954. Major mainline denominations and ecumenical services constitute the membership core of the council, which is committed to building closer relationships among all churches in Hong Kong as well as with churches in the Mainland and overseas. The council also encourages local Christians to play an active part in the development of Hong Kong society. It seeks to serve the wider community through its auxiliary agencies such as the Hong Kong Christian Service, Christian Industrial Committee, United Christian Hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and Alice Ho Min Yee Nethersole Hospital and the Christian Family Service Centre. The council runs weekly 'Alternative Tours', which give visitors and residents an opportunity to see how the church serves the community.

Roman Catholic Community

The Roman Catholic Church has been present since Hong Kong's earliest days. The church was established as a mission prefecture in 1841 and as an apostolic vicariate in 1874. It became a diocese in 1946.

In 2002, the church mourned the death of Cardinal John Baptist Cheng-chung Wu, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong for 27 years, having been ordained in July 1975. Cardinal Wu, who was aged 77, died on September 23. He was succeeded immediately by the Coadjutor Bishop, Joseph Ze-kiun Zen, as the Bishop of Hong Kong. Bishop Zen is assisted by two Vicars General, John Hon Tong, who is also Auxiliary Bishop, and Father Dominic Chan.

was

Cardinal Wu- the third Chinese to be elevated to the College of Cardinals the third Chinese bishop of the diocese. The first was Francis Chen-peng Hsu, who was installed in 1969. Bishop Hsu was succeeded in 1973 by Peter Wang-kei Lei.