Hong Kong: Église catholique et son identité
Hong Kong: The Catholic Church and Its Identity

Summary/Abstract: The Catholic Church in Hong Kong represents the Sino-Asian multi-culture. A Hong Kong Catholic’s identity is set on a triple affiliation: Chinese, Hong Kong, and civic. Although Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony (1898-1997), the first missionaries here were Catholic priests: 1841 – a Swiss priest Theodore Joset (an Irish soldiers’ chaplain); 1842 – the Franciscans began systematic evangelisation of the colonies; 1874 – Timoleon Raimondi (an apostolic vicar) became the first bishop of Hong Kong; 2013 – a former colony’s population is over 7 million people, including 350 thousand of Catholics of Chinese origin and 150 thousand of immigrant Catholics. Since 1 July 1997, Hong Kong has is part of the People’s Republic of China, but the full integration of the former colony is supposed to become effective in 50 years. In practice, this means that in the country there are two systems: the Chinese one and the Hong Kong one. In order to ensure the freedom of religion to the Church, pastoral and diplomatic efforts are taken by the local bishops: Cardinal John Baptist Wu Cheng-Chung (died in 2002) and the current Bishop, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.

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