HONG KONG (SE): Over 30 teachers and students from three theological colleges in Hong Kong went on pilgrimage from June 16 to 29 to visit significant places in Church history. These included churches and centres in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Vatican, providing them with a deeper understanding of the Reformation, and the division and development of different denominations in the Church. 
 

Guangzhou (AsiaNews/RFA): Singer-songwriter, Xu Lin, appeared in court, on public order charges in Guangdong on July 27 for writing and singing songs dedicated to late writer, human rights advocate and Nobel Prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo, who was let out of incarceration on medical parole shortly before he died from liver cancer on 13 July 2017.
 
Xu’s wife, Wang, said she was prevented from attending the trial and had to watch a live video feed in a separate room. The singer’s friends were not allowed to come near the courthouse.

HONG KONG (SE): The English-speaking communities of Holy Family parish, Choi Hung, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of their former parish priest, Father James Areechira of the Society of the Divine Word, at the basketball court of the parish on July 22.
 
The Divine Word missionary who is on study leave in Australia for three years returned to Hong Kong for a brief vacation and also to celebrate his silver anniversary of priestly ordination in the city where he served for over two decades.
 

HONG KONG (UCAN): “They all live in Cheung Chau but didn’t like going to school and sometimes hung (around) on the street until one to two in the morning. They were invited to work here. We provide them with job training and prevent them from learning bad habits,” explains Lucia Leung Mei-ling, speaking about the young people working at McMercy Cheung Chau.
 

HONG KONG (SE): Jesuit-educated Alan Wong Ting-yuet, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Gregory O’Kelly at St. Mary’s Church, North Sydney, Australia, in the Diocese of Port Pirie on June 16.
 
Thirty-four-year-old Nico Lariosa, a Filipino, was also ordained a priest.
 
The newly-ordained, 39-year-old Father Wong had emigrated to Australia together with his family in 1997 and then entered the Jesuit-run St. Aloysius’ College. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Research conducted by the Pastoral Centre for Workers (Kowloon) showed that ethnic minorities with higher qualifications face more difficulties when searching for jobs. The findings were released on July 2.
 
The research, done in cooperation with the associate professor of the department of Cultural Studies, Lisa Leung Yuk-ming, looked into the employment situations of a total of 172 ethnic minority people who were invited to fill in questionnaires. Twenty-three of them were interviewed in detail. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Catholic medical groups marked the 15th anniversary of the removal of Hong Kong on 23 June 2003 from the list of areas affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic with a a Mass at St. Teresa’s Church, Prince Edward Road, on July 14. 
 

HONG KONG (SE): Father Philip Chan Chi-yan of the diocese of Hong Kong passed away at the age of 93 at Canossa Hospital, Central, on July 13.
 
Father Chan was born in Guangzhou, China in May 1925. His family later moved to Hong Kong and then to Macau. In 1938 he joined St. Joseph’s Seminary, Macau, at the age of 13 and later moved to the Regional Seminary of South China, Hong Kong (later called the Holy Spirit Seminary).
 
He was ordained a priest by Bishop Lorenzo Bianchi in 1957.