Appeal from Cardinal Tong for Caritas-Hong Kong’s annual fund-raising drive

Hand in hand let us create a bright future

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

HONG KONG (SE): The people and priests of Hong Kong diocese gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on March 3 for the celebration of a Mass of thanksgiving and to welcome the newly appointed John Cardinal Tong Hon back home from Rome.

Attended by around 20 representatives of Christian denominations and religious faiths, as well as the former bishop of the diocese, Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, people rose to applaud the new cardinal when he entered the packed cathedral.

HONG KONG (SE): In choosing his coat of arms as a cardinal, John Cardinal Tong Hon has kept the central design from the one he took as bishop of Hong Kong in 2009, while adding the insignia of a cardinal to the design.

It features a book, which represents the Interim Report and Proposals of the late John Baptist Cardinal Wu Cheng-chung and relates to his pastoral exhortation, March into the Bright Decade.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Out of the great love of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for the Catholics of Hong Kong and our Motherland, I was elevated as a member of the College of Cardinals on February 18.

HONG KONG (SE): The first Hong Kong-born cardinal described the honour bestowed upon him by Pope Benedict XVI at a consistory in the Vatican on February 18 as a challenge to serve with greater courage.

John Cardinal Tong Hon told the Hong Kong media on March 2 that although he is the one on whom the honour has been conferred, it is more a recognition of the importance of the Church in Hong Kong and China.

HONG KONG (AsiaNews): “I feel very unworthy of this position. But I am also grateful for the honour,” Bishop John Tong Hong told AsiaNews on the eve of his elevation to the rank of cardinal, which took place in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on February 18.

HONG KONG (SE): Bishop John Tong Hon will become a cardinal at a ceremony conducted by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, on February 18.

He will become the seventh Chinese cardinal and the first Hong Kong-born person to be elevated to the rank.

HONG KONG (SE): Bishop John Tong Hon has been awarded a red hat by Pope Benedict XVI and will be elevated to the rank of cardinal at a ceremony in the Vatican on February 18, along with 21 others from around the world.

The pope will impose the biretta, consign the ring and assign a title. The new cardinals will concelebrate a Mass of thanksgiving with the pope on the following day.