Hong Kong Catholic church needs $1b

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

Hundreds of Hong Kong Catholics have participated in a jump rope charity event to raise funds for the construction and maintenance of Church-run buildings and cemeteries in the city.

The diocese needs to raise a total of HK$1 billion for development activities.

The Hong Kong Diocesan Fundraising Commission for Church Building and Development organised the “725 Rope Skipping Fun Day” event at St Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School.

The event was presided over by Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan and attended by more than 200 children, parents, teachers, staff of Caritas Hong Kong and other members of participating religious institutions.

“Young people have a lot of good qualities for us to learn from. Among them is courage in the face of difficulties,” the bishop said during the event.

He also thanked the organisers, participants, sponsors and donors for their generosity and efforts.

The event was supported by the Catholic Religious Schools Council and Caritas Hong Kong-Vocational Training and Education Service, along with the diocesan secondary and primary schools as well as kindergartens.

As of July 26, the event has raised HK$2.6 million (NZ$528,500) and public donations are open until mid-August through the fund-raising website of the commission.

Funds raised through these events are to be used by the diocese for the construction of parish buildings and maintenance of old buildings that are under the diocese for posterity.

“Let’s pray for God’s guidance for this event which encourages constant exercises, unites Catholic schools, promotes concern for Church development and passes on the great love of God,” said Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming, the fundraising commission’s chairperson.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city, was a British colony from 1843 until its handover to China in 1997.

Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong enjoyed a higher degree of autonomy and basic rights such as independent judiciary and legislature in the ‘one country, two systems’ framework.

Catholics number about 500,000 of Hong Kong’s estimated 7.5 million residents.