HONG KONG (SE): “Some say security, some say comfort, some say love,” Catherine Cheung, from the St. Anne’s Meditation Group at Stanley, reflected in response to a question posed by the leader of the World Community for Christian Meditation, Father Laurence Freeman, at St. Francis of Assisi in Sham Shui Po on January 22.

HONG KONG (SE): A few alarm bells rang on February 27 at the release of the election manifesto of chief executive hopeful, Carrie Lam Chen Yuet-ngor, as it included the possibility of revisiting the setting up of a special government unit in Hong Kong to coordinate the activities of religious bodies.

HONG KONG (SE): There used to be a time when remembering the old adage, “Don’t forget to fast in Lent,” was enough to get you through, so long as you also remembered to eat fish on Fridays and a little bit less of it than most Fridays.

However, in our Church today the concept of Lent and its purpose has been considerably broadened. Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on Ash Wednesday, March 1, Pope Francis called it a time to remember who we are and why we are living on this earth.

HONG KONG (SE): Hopes for a chief executive that will protect the core values of Hong Kong society were expressed by Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing at a New Year gathering of the Colloquium of Six Religious Leaders on February 16.

At their annual New Year gathering, representatives of the Colloquium expressed their good wishes for Hong Kong society at a gathering attended by around 200 people from various religious traditions at the Church of Christ in China Kei Wa Primary School, Kowloon.

HONG KONG (SE): Fourteen groups from the Holy Family English Community in Choi Hung organised a farewell party for their parish priest, Father James Areechira, on January 29 at the parish basketball court.

The air was filled with a mixture of fun and melancholy. Each of the 14 groups provided some entertainment, after which one of them gave the much loved parish priest a short message of thanks and presented him with a souvenir of his decade and a half presence in Choi Hung.

HONG KONG (SE): In the clash of heads over the inclusion by chief executive hopeful, Carrie Lam Chen Yuet-ngor, of a suggestion to set up a government Religious Affairs Unit in Hong Kong (see page 1), the phrase, “Hong Kong already enjoys full religious freedom” is being tossed about with gay abandon.

While it is a guarantee of the Basic Law, the definition of religious freedom seems to be at least up for grabs, as it is not necessarily clear who has the right to define or describe it.

HONG KONG (SE): The former chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, was sentenced to 20 months’ prison on February 22 on a charge of failing to disclose what were deemed to be spurious plans to lease a luxury penthouse in Shenzhen from an investor, Bill Wong Cho-bau, who was at the same time a major shareholder in WaveMedia and involved in applying for digital radio broadcasting licences.

HONG KONG (SE): The two cardinals in Hong Kong hold divergent opinions on the current discussions taking place between the Vatican and Beijing, with the bishop of Hong Kong, John Cardinal Tong Hon, showing great optimism in his outline of a possible scenario for Church-state relations and his predecessor, Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, far more wary.