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.

Source

• UCA News

The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) of Hong Kong, run by the Franciscans, announced last week that the society is running out of Chinese bibles as it is unable to print on mainland Chinese printing presses.

Franciscan Friar Raymond Mary Yeung, a member of the SBF, expressed concerns over looming bible shortages in a post on Facebook on July 25.

"SBF has been unable to find a suitable printing house and therefore has not been able to print Catholic Chinese bibles" Friar Yeung reportedly said, according to ChinaAid.

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The attack comes as prominent Catholic leaders in Hong Kong have been vocal in support of the pro-democracy protests.

According to technology website ZDNet, a series of spear-phishing attacks have specifically targeted diocesan officials and are linked to the Chinese government.

The attacks came in the form of legitimate-looking documents that install malware on a user's computer.

According to a malware analyst using the pseudonym Arkbird, the malware samples are typically associated with Chinese state groups.

"This virus contained legitimate-looking applications that loaded either a document or news article related to the Catholic Church, but actually installed malware on the user's computer without their knowledge," Arkbird says.

Arkbird says the lure documents, such as communications from Vatican officials or news articles from the Union of Catholic Asian News, load malicious malware on a victim's computer.

On July 1 new "National security law" was introduced in Hong Kong. The law, signed by Catholic Governor, Carrie Lam, is expected to impact on the religious freedom of people in Hong Kong.

Under the new law, anyone convicted of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces will receive a minimum of 10 years in prison, with the possibility of a life sentence.

The National security law has a broad definition of terrorism and even includes arson and vandalizing public transportation "with an intent to intimidate the Hong Kong government or Chinese government for political purposes."

The administrator of the diocese, Cardinal John Tong Hon supports the new security law saying it will have no effect on religious freedom.

However his predecessor Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen acknowledges the tricky situation Tong Hon is in.

"On the one hand, it will be a lot of trouble if we don't support the government. We never know what they will do to our Church," said Zen.

Zen, however, remains disappointed many in the Church gave support to the law.

Source

• ZDNet
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: CyberTalk.org

The media comments followed a video showing eight students taking part in air gun shooting practice while parading an American flag on the rooftop of Yu Chun Keung Memorial College, a diocesan school.

Ta Kung Pao, a Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper, says the video is like "violence assault training" and asked if the college had become "a mob training centre."

A statement from the school says the video is showing its gun club activities and does not represent the school's views on the increasingly violent pro-democracy protests.

However, Ta Kung Pao linked the video footage to another story showing the school had allowed anti-government demonstrators to take refuge in its church.

"The church providing shelter to the mob wearing black has been criticised by people who say it is collaborating with them," Ta Kung Pao reported.

"Some worry that the church has become a base for those who are anti-China and anti-Hong Kong."

The Mother of Good Counsel Parish opened a nearby chapel for people to take shelter in on 3 August when they clashed with police.

Another Communist Party-run newspaper says having a chapel share a building with a Catholic primary school was allowing protesters to hijack the school by using religion as a cover.

That article's publication prompted a statement from the school, saying the chapel will be open only for parishioners who have an appointment and with security approval.

In the same report, the newspaper also attacked the Catholic Centre (the diocesan bookstore) for uploading a cartoon onto Facebook.

In the picture, Jesus is seen hugging two masked youths wearing helmets and black clothes, a trademark of the demonstrators.

"Kids, tired already? Come to my door!!" the caption says.

The newspaper decried it as "coverage and connivance with violent protesters."

A diocesan staff member says the picture does not mean the diocese is not taking sides.

"In today's Hong Kong situation, being attacked [by the media] is not a surprise," he said.

"But the message of the picture is very mild. It just shows Jesus offering shelter and help to those in need.

Source

• UCA News
• Image: UCA News