HONG KONG (SE): A study retreat was organised for clergy by the Diocese of Hong Kong from January 8 to 10, to deepen their understanding of the situation of the Church in China.
 
With the help of different researchers on the subject, the retreat covered four topics, including the theological principles behind the reforms of Pope Francis, Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy on religion, the provisional Sino-Vatican agreement on the appointment of bishops reached on September 22 and the future of the Church in China. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Around 100 people from the legal profession gathered for a prayer service at the opening of the Legal Year 2019 on January 14 at St. John’s Cathedral, Central, at which they prayed for justice and the rule of law.
 
The service, organised by Thomas More Society as well as other legal practitioners’ groups, was officiated by Archbishop Paul Kwong of the Anglican Church and John Cardinal Tong Hon, apostolic administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): The Diocesan Commission for Vocations organised a walk to promote vocations on December 26, in which around 500 participants taking different routes, walked to Holy Spirit Seminary in Aberdeen.
 
Different parishes, schools and religious institutes joined the event. Led by Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, around 200 people started their journey from Aberdeen Technical School reciting rosary. Other groups were required to take a route no less than an hour from the seminary. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): At the screening on December 30 of a documentary, Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella, about the Umbrella Movement, Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, the former bishop of Hong Kong, said people in the movement had already achieved something by showing their strong desire for real universal suffrage. However, he also urged them to have a strategy and not to expect a quick victory.
 
“Do not be impatient for a result, it is dangerous,” he said.
 

HONG KONG (SE): The Diocese of Hong Kong paid tribute to 49 priests and religious celebrating their 25th, 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries of ordination or religious profession on December 7, a day before the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Reverend Andy Lau Wai-ming, Reverend Victor Lee Hon-kit and Reverend Simon Chan Yuk-keung were ordained permanent deacons by Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Caine Road, on November 24. 
 
The Mass was concelebrated by the bishop with John Cardinal Tong Hon, Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing and other priests of the diocese. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Dylan Chan Yee-fu, a top basketball player in the Hong Kong A1 Division Championship league, is now the coach of a basketball programme implemented by his alma mater, the Caritas Wu Cheng-chung Secondary School.  
 
During the launching ceremony of the Cheng-chung Youth Basketball and Leadership Training Scheme on November 16, the renowned basketball player thanked the teachers of the school who motivated him from Form 1 to 3.
 

HONG KONG (SE): “All of us then are missionaries, whatever our path in life, or whatever our stage of life, or whatever country we live in,” Father Tim Mulroy, the new superior general of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, said at a Mass to conclude the centenary celebrations of the Missionary Society of St. Columban at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Caine Road, on November 23, the feast of St. Columban.
 

HONG KONG (SE): The Sant’Egidio Community in Hong Kong observed the World Day of the Poor with the opening of the Home of Mercy, a shelter for the homeless and the former prison inmates in Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui, on November 18. 
 
The 1,000 square foot centre can accommodate eight residents. The inauguration, officiated by Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong, marked the golden jubilee of the community in Rome.