Catholic Church in Hong Kong
The Catholic Church in Hong Kong (Chinese: 天主教香港教區), established in 1841, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. All Catholics in Hong Kong are under the Diocese of Hong Kong, which is a de jure suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Guangzhou. However, in practice it is an immediate subject of the Holy See.
There are approximately 350,000 Catholics in Hong Kong - around 5% of the total population - most being Latin Rite Catholics. The majority of the Hong Kong Catholics are Chinese. However, there are various national groups of Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Indian, French and German active Catholics. Sunday religious services are offered in 99 places, and there are 317 Catholic schools and 71 various social service centers.
The Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong is Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, SDB (Chinese:陳日君). He is regarded by some to be politically 'controversial' due to his 'anti-Beijing' views. However, Zen has constantly personally maintained that he is very patriotic to his country, and that he has been upset that he has been denied the right to return to China.
The current Bishop of Hong Kong is John Tong Hon, who has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong in 2009.
The Cathedral of the Diocese of Hong Kong is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located on Caine Road, Mid Levels.
See also
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong
- Roman Catholicism in China
- List of Catholic Churches in Hong Kong