The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-03-14
Church In Hong Kong:
SolidIy Established But
Still Needs Help From US.

In Hong Kong the situation is similar to the one
in Formosag although the efforts of the Church In
Free China are missionary in the romantic sense
scattered churches and schools all over a large terri
tory, spires with crosses emerging here and there
lmong thatched or gabled roofs.
This is also true of the so-called New Territor.
ies", a part of rural China which became British
Lease Area" after the Boxer Rebellion. Yet, in the
twin cities of Hong Kong and KoWloon, with a popula,
ton of over two million, the Church now appears to
be as solidly established and influential a minority as
in any city in America-but growing much much,
faster.
In Hong Kong | bought the Catholic Church Dir
ectory, a book of over 400 @ pages from which | got
a panoramic view of the activities of our Church as
well as a notion of where our missionary contribu-
tons go kindergartens and elementary schools,
academies and colleges, dispensaries and hospitals,
missions speaking Cantonese and the Shanghai dia-
lect, the Mandarin and Fukien idioms, editorial offices
for periodicals and papers, biblical institutes and par
ochial churches, seminaries, sodalities, and study
clubs, anything connected with spiritual and intellect
ual activities.
No wonder that the number of Catholics since
the end of the war had risen from q, 1000 to l4O, 600.
Last year there we're more than 10000 CONVEX
sions from Paganism as against less than zoo from
Professionalism. A colossal number of destitute refugees
from Red China live in this area but only very few
of the the new arrivals are Cathoics-only one per-
cent Of the Chinese belong to the Faith-but in Hong
Kong they have a wonderful chance to become ac-
quainted with the Church.
And they get to know both her activities, her re-
lg1OuS ana ner cndTlLaDle ones, because II IdS uollS
a heroic work not only in education but also in the
resettlement and training Of the expellees, a work
largely financed by American Catholics.
Most of these expellees were farmers and now
they have to learn trades. The British Colonial Gov
eminent, it must be admitted, is supporting the Catho-
lie efforts in every way.
Thus it pays all salaries for the Catholic school
teachers and meets building expenses hallway. Here
| would like to mention, in brackets, that many an
American in Hong Kong has been converted to "col
onialiSm'o. q
Whereas in Taiwan the number of the clergy is
insufficient to bring in the, whole harveSt--a large
part Of its efforts has to be diverted to the normal
care of the souls of those already converted-n Hong
Kong the expelled missionaries from the Chinese in-
terror are roughly meeting the demands. / talked with
several of them on various occasions, as for instance,
in the excellent Catholic Centre" which is a mixture
of bookstore, editorial office, chapel, club, library.
and study hall.
They all told me how often they are accosted in
the streets and asked whether they belong to the
Church of the Master of Heavens" which, in all
Chinese speaking lands, is the official name for the
Church. CThe word Catholic does not lend itself to
translation-the Japanese katoriku is still quite a
problem).
In Hong Kong we see the same movement as in
Formosa-all people of all ages and stations in life
are interested in the Church. In the New Territories
it is the farmer, in the cities the merchant, the labor
er, the craftsman, the doctor, the poet, the musician.
The example set by Europeans is not too bad
since the, English Gas well as the ubiquitous Irish
are good Catholics and the Portuguese, though not
brilliant in Church attendance, live good, clean faml-
ly lives.
AS everywhere else the missionaries are eager to
convert entire families, for it is the Catholic family
which, more than anything else, produces future vo-
work is a large, indigenous clergy which one day can
take over entirely.