HONG KONG (Agencies): A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between The Catholic Times of Korea, the country’s oldest Catholic weekly, and the Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong, aimed at boosting evangelisation efforts in Asia, especially in mainland China.
 
John Cardinal Tong Hon, the former bishop of Hong Kong and director of the centre, and Father Pius Yi Ki-soo, the president of the newspaper, signed the MoU at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Aberdeen.
 

HONG KONG (UCAN): “Politicisation is inevitable, because the teaching materials and textbooks come from China,” a political commentator in Hong Kong, Lam Kei wrote. 
 
“They are taking the opportunity to turn Putonghua teaching into brainwashing sessions,” Lam said.
 
Lam’s comments come amid growing concerns that the increasing use of Putonghua (Mandarin) in Hong Kong is posing a threat to the city’s indigenous culture.
 

HONG KONG (SE): Stephanie Chan Sin-ying, a lay missionary from Hong Kong was commissioned by Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing as a missionary to Kenya, Africa, for three years during a ceremony Holy Spirit Seminary Chapel on January 13. 
 
She previously spent eight years on mission to Kenya before returning to Hong Kong in 2012 to pursuing her doctoral studies.
 

HONG KONG (SE): “The biggest grace anyone can aspire for in this world is to be a priest of Christ!” This was the first response of the Divine Word Missionary Father Peter Hoang Van Hien to the Sunday Examiner after he was ordained a priest on January 14 by Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung, the bishop of Hong Kong, during a concelebrated Mass attended by large number of faithful, many of them friends and well-wishers of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) at Christ the King Chapel, Causeway Bay.
 

HONG KONG (SE): Around 700 medical practitioners and pastoral workers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan participated in the fifth Bioethics Conference on how to care for terminally ill patients and their families in the love of God. 
 
The conference, held at the Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Tseung Kwan O, from December 9 to 10, was organised by the Bioethics Resources Centre of the Holy Spirit Seminary College, the Diocesan Committee for Bioethics and other organisations. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Marking the World Day of Peace on January 1, on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung, urged people not to be self-centered and not to close the doors on migrants and refugees. 
 
He appealed to the Catholic community to accept and care for refugees and migrants and promote harmony, as harmony is an important element in the growth of society.
 

HONG KONG (UCAN): Only two days prior to the Justice and Peace Commission’s 40th Anniversary Symposium on the topic of Hong Kong’s Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law under Authoritarian Governance, the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo) passed controversial amendments to the rules of procedure to allow the quorum required for scrutinising bills to be reduced from 35 to 20.
 

HONG KONG (SE): A symposium on promoting breastfeeding, organised by the Catholic Messengers of Green Consciousness in cooperation with the Hong Kong Catholic Breastfeeding Association and the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, was held at the Catholic Diocese Centre, Caine Road, on December 17. 
 
Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung said in his opening message that that babies are born to be breastfed. He explained that natural birth and breastfeeding are in God’s plan and mother’s milk is the best gift for a baby. 

Hong Kong (SE): Divine Word Father Stephen Bevans, guided a three-day study camp for the clergy of the Hong Kong diocese on the theme, Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, from January 3 to 5 at the Holy Spirit Seminary College. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): A spokesperson from the Justice and Peace Commission of Hong Kong said the newly approved joint checkpoint arrangement for the cross-border rail link shows a total disregard for the spirit of the Basic Law and the promise of One country, two systems.
 
On December 27, the National People’s Congress approved a plan to enforce national laws in part of the West Kowloon terminus for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.