Diocesan Jubilee Year 2000 celebration at Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po. Various Jubilee Year activities were held throughout this year, including local pilgrimages to nine designated places, celebrations for religious, the elderly and disabled, and a Eucharistic congress.

Opening Ceremony of the Diocesan Synod (at Cathedral) and its First Plenary Assembly (at Catholic Diocese Centre), participated by about 200 Church members and some Christian leaders as observers. Seven drafting groups were to deal respectively with formation of the laity and lay ministry, youth ministry, social concerns, evangelization. Marriage and family life, education and culture, and vocation promotion and ongoing formation for diocesan priests. To allow for fuller representation of the English-speaking faithful, a committee for the evaluation of pastoral ministry to foreigners was set up in August.

The second Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Workers was established at Star of the Sea Church, Chaiwan.

SAR Government announced membership of Election Committee for the second Legislative Council elections in September. Of the seventeen Catholics who applied for membership, seven (six laymen and a diocesan priest) were chosen by the Constitutional Affairs Bureau to sit on the Committee, in accordance with the "passive compliance" stance of the Diocese.

A 26-episolde TV religious programme entitled <The Beginning & the End> (Alpha & Omega), launched by the Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre, began to be broadcast on Cable TV.

St. Francis Xavier Parish, Choi Wan Estate, Kowloon, suppressed and incorporated into Holy Family Parish, Choi Hung Estate.

St. Vincent's Parish, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, suppressed and incorporated into Mother of Good Counsel Parish, San Po Kong.

120 Chinese martyrs (87 natives and 33 foreign missionaries) canonized by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The canonization was sternly condemned by the Chinese Government, on the allegations that those martyrs were accomplices of Western imperialists and colonialists who had oppressed China, that some of the martyrs were morally corrupt, and that the date chosen for the canonization - the National Day of China - was intended as an insult to the people of China. From September to November, celebrations of the Diocese and various religious communities were held as scheduled, despite the request of the Liaison Office of the Central Government in the SAR that religious celebrations should preferably keep a low profile. There were also heated debates among the media, regarding not only the canonization as such but also the issue of religious freedom in the SAR, under the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement enforced since the 1997 transition.

An evangelization rally to mark the closing of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in Hong Kong and the journey of the Church "towards the Third Millennium of Christ's Saving Grace" was held at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Caritas Francis Hsu College upgraded by the Education Department and registered under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance, Cap. 320, following an Institutional Review conducted by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation.

The Diocese took the lead in defending the right to schooling of Mainland-born children whose parents were Hong Kong residents and who were on recognizance, waiting judicial sentence on their claim to the right of abode in Hong Kong. Along with several local schools, two Catholic private schools, namely, St. Joan of Arc Primary School and Ng Wah College (Primary Section, AM Session) admitted those children with special tuition arrangements. In response to public opinion, especially to the appeal of the legal and educational circles, the Immigration Department finally agreed to review previous requests for schooling, on a case-by-case basic.

Closing Ceremony of the Diocesan Synod was held at the Cathedral, during which the seven drafting groups presented 177 Synodal resolutions to Cardinal John B. Wu. From among these, ten priorities had previously been chosen by Synodal members. These priorities aimed at deepening the Christian formation of the lay people; promoting the catechumenate, basic ecclesial communities and Christian marriage and family life; youth ministry in parishes and Catholic schools; more involvement in social justice issues by Church leaders and other Church members; active participation in evangelization; the establishing of a local Catholic university.
The recommendations of a special committee for foreigners were also submitted.

Holy Spirit Parish, Homantin, Kowloon, suppressed and amalgamated with Mary Help of Christians Parish, Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon.

A local newspaper, South China Morning Post, gave a front-page report on three Catholic priests in Hong Kong alleged to have sexually abused minors during the episcopate of Cardinal John B. Wu. In the following weeks, other allegations involving local priests and religious rocked the Catholic Church and seriously undermined her public image. These events raised the awareness of the general public and of the Catholic Church about the need to protect minors against sexual abuse. It was decided to form an inter-disciplinary committee under the Diocese for the protection of minors against sexual abuse in Church institutions.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Sau Mau Ping, Kowloon, suppressed and amalgamated with Resurrection Parish, Kwun Tong, Kowloon.

Cardinal John B. Wu promulgated the deliberations and pastoral priorities of the Diocesan Synod (4 March 2000- 30 December 2001). In a Pastoral Letter entitled ¡§Love life, the gift of God!¡¨, he outlined a ten-year plan for the implementation of the top ten pastoral priorities of the Synod.

Cardinal John B. Wu, whose health had been deteriorating since mid-June, passed away, aged 77, and was immediately succeeded by his Coadjutor, Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, SDB. Cardinal Wu¡¦s funeral, held on 28 September, was officiated by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Eucharistic celebration in the Cathedral on the commencement of the pastoral ministry of Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong.

Especially during the second half of this year, the Diocese and various Christian groups joined the legal profession, human rights organizations and other sectors of society in voicing out their reservations about the proposed anti-subversion laws, required under Article 23 of the Basic Law. It was worried that these laws, if enacted without a thorough consultation process including a ¡§white bill¡¨, could easily lead to violations of basic civil rights in future. The Diocese also expressed her concern over the Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, about to be passed by the Legislative Council. Once enacted, the new legislation would likely play down the role of the Church in running Catholic schools and in promoting Catholic education.

An atypical viral pneumonia, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), dealt a heavy blow to all sectors of Hong Kong and brought public life practically to a standstill. Preventive hygiene measures and quarantines were enforced by the government, especially for infected areas, hospitals, schools and crowed or public places. Hong Kong was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as unsafe for tourists and visitors. The diocese likewise carried out provisional pastoral measures on hygienic grounds. Death toll stood at 296 when WHO announced Hong Kong SARS-free on 23 June.

Half a million Hong Kong people, including many Catholics, took to the streets in a landmark protest against the government for hastily enacting the ¡§National Security Bill¡¨ under Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong without wide and thorough consultations. There was much concern that the proposed legislation, aiming at outlawing such offences as treason, secession, sedition and subversion, could easily lead to violation of fundamental human rights. Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, took part in a prayer gathering at Victoria Park before the mass protest began. On 7 July the government decided to defer the second reading of the controversial Bill, originally scheduled to be put a vote by the Legislative Council on 9 July.

Eight members of the radical Rainbow Action homosexual rights group disrupted a Sunday Mass at the Catholic Cathedral.  They were provoked by the Church¡¦s opposition to homosexual ¡§marriages¡¨, as set forth in a document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 3 June 2003, entitled ¡§Considerations regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons¡¨.  Subsequently Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, met with representatives of various homosexual rights groups to clarify the Church¡¦s stand and reaffirmed that she had no discrimination against homosexual persons as such.

Mission Sunday celebration at the Hong Kong Stadium, programmes including (1) public recitation of the rosary to conclude the Year of the Rosary (October 2002 - October 2003) proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, and (2) inauguration of a Year of Evangelization (lasting until Easter 2005) as recommended by the Diocesan Synod.

This Year Caritas-Hong Kong, the social service arm of the diocese, reached its 50^th anniversary. It pledged to carry on its option for the poor, the needy and the socially marginalized by coping with cuts in government funding and the new government policy of community-based integrated social services.

7 December

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Award.

Following a prayer gathering at Victoria Park attended also by Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, many Catholics joined thousands of other citizens in a peaceful anti-government march.  The main issue was for more democracy, particularly for the SAR Chief Executive and the Legislative Council to be elected by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 respectively.  The march witnessed to a deepened social awareness and a craving for democracy on the part of the public, who was motivated not just by economic wellbeing.

The diocese issued some regulations regarding hygiene of church premises, the Eucharist and other sacraments.

-   To celebrate Mission Sunday, an evangelization rally and Eucharistic concelebration were held at the Hong Kong Coliseum, Hunghom.  This occasion also marked the opening of the Year of the Eucharist (Oct. 2004 ¡V Oct. 2005), proclaimed by Pope John Paul II for the universal Church with the main theme of ¡§The Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church¡¨.  The diocese planned for a series of activities to achieve two main goals set by the Holy Father, namely, the revival of Sunday Mass as the original feast day of the Church, and an increase in Eucharistic worship outside Mass.

-   Liturgists and members of the Liturgy Commissions of Asian countries and regions (including Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong) attended the ¡§Asian Liturgy Forum¡¨ in Taipei to study the Instruction ¡§Redemptionis Sacramentum¡¨ (with norms for the Eucharistic celebration) issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 23 April 2004.  Recommendations were made for adapting the Holy See norms to the Asian context.

-   Education (Amendment) Bill 2004 passed by the Legislative Council on 8 July.  Under the new Ordinance, effective on 1 January 2005, every aided school is required before 2010 to form an incorporated management committee (IMC) whose members should include elected representatives of teachers, parents of students and alumni, as well as other independent persons, with a view to promoting a school-based management.  It was the concern of the Church that, as a sponsoring body, she would no longer be empowered in the future to supervise the schools under her sponsorship, nor be able to achieve her goals and objectives in Catholic education.  In a circular letter dated 20 November, Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, urged all Catholic schools to retain their current structure, without forming the IMC before 2010.  However, to promote a participatory governance framework for stakeholders, they should form a ¡§School Executive Committee¡¨ at the functional level within the current school year.  Such a body, proposed by the Education Commission Report No. 7 in 1997, would include representatives of teachers, parents and alumni as members.  Catholic schools were also urged to identify potential school managers who shared the vision of the Catholic Church in education.

-   During this year a centralized, computerized system for keeping pastoral data and parish census records were introduced, linking the diocese and parishes and the parishes between themselves.

Mr. Tung Chee-hwa resigned as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR and Mr. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Chief Secretary, took over as Acting Chief Executive. Election of the new Chief Executive was scheduled for 10 July.

Pope John Paul II passed away at 9:37 pm. Three million Catholics and other flocked to the Vatican to pay homeage to him. In Hong Kong, two Masses at the Cathedral to commemorate him, on 4 April (evening) and on 7 April (morning), were attended respectively by more than six thousand Catholics. There was wide media coverage locally and abroad on the late Holy Fathers as a staunch promoter of justice, world peace and the solidarity of the human family.

Solemn Mass at the Cathedral to pray for the new Pope, Benedict XVI, as he began his pontificate (24 April).

Closing ceremony of the ¡§Year of the Evangelization¡¨ at Hong Kong Coliseum, with ¡§New Culture of Evangelization¡¨ as main theme.

Mr. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, supported by 710 members of the 796-member Election Committee, won the election campaign for the post of Chief Executive.

Mr. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen sworn in as new SAR Chief Executive.

The diocese hosted the first East Asian Meeting on Women, sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops¡¦ Conferences.

Holy Spirit Seminary College hosted the 3^rd International Philarchisophia Symposium, attended by scholars from Hong Kong. Taiwan and mainland China.

¡§The Centre for Catholic Studies¡¨ established in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with a donation of 7 million dollars from the diocese.

The annual retreat of the Catholic clergy of Hong Kong was held at Jinzi Retreat House, Shanghai.

More than 300 delegates from 18 Asian countries attended the 9^th Asian Regional Conference of CICIAMS (International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medico-Social Assistants) at the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, with ¡§Healthy Family: Our Mission as Careers¡¨ as main theme. It was hosted by the Hong Kong Catholic Nurses¡¦ Guild and attended by Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Pont6ifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers.

An estimated 250,000 citizens took part in a rally to protest against the ¡§Package of Proposals for the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2008¡¨, brought forward by the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force under the SAR Government. Bishop Joseph Zen, SDB, was one of the most outspoken critics of this constitutional reform bill, which did not lay down a precise road map or timetable for introducing universal suffrage, as stipulated by the Basic Law (Art. 45), in the light of the actual situation of Hong Kong and in accordance with the principal of gradual and orderly progress.

The constitutional reform package of the SAR Government was voted down with 34 Legislators in favour. 24 against and one abstention.

St. Joseph¡¦s Chapel, Yim Yin Tsai Village, Sai Kung, received a Culture heritage conservation ¡§Award of Merit¡¨ under the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards scheme.

30 July - 5 August

The ¡§Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education¡¨ under The Hong Kong Institute of Education was established with donations from the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (3 million dollars), the Anglicans, Taoists and Buddhists.

2007

With a view to promoting family life as recommended by the Diocesan Synod (2000-2001), the years 2007-2008 were designated as ¡§Year of the Family¡¨.

27 May (Pentecost)

Pope Benedict XVI issues a Letter to the Church in China, focusing on Church-State relations, Church communion, the appointment of bishops and some pastoral matters. The Holy Father also suggested that in the future, 24 May, the Memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, be for Catholics worldwide a day of prayer for the Church in China. A Chinese version was made available to the faithful by Cardinal Joseph Zen, SDB, who also gave several public talks to clarify the Pope¡¦s Letter.

The Correctional Services Department held a Rehabilitation Fair at its Staff Training Institute, Stanley, to introduce the local NGOs at the service of serving and rehabilitated offenders. The ¡§Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong Lay Prison Evangelical Organization¡¨ was the co-organizer and Bishop John Tong was one of the guests of honour.