Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Hong Kong 香港

Sciiamchiamen(sis)

The Diocese of Hong Kong was erected as a diocese in 1946 and functions in practice as immediately subject to the Holy See. It is led by Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.J., who was appointed in 2021 and created a cardinal in 2023.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
11 April 1946
Latin
Sciiamchiamen(sis)
Patron
Imaculada Conceição
Annuario code
001001608

The see in figures

Catholics
395,000
Population
7,374,900
Catholic share
5.4%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
283
Catholics per priest
1,396
Extent
1,104 km²
Catholics per km²
358

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Stephen Chow

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception stands in Hong Kong 香港, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

History

The Diocese of Hong Kong (Chinese: 天主教香港教區; Latin: Dioecesis Sciiamchiamensis), a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, takes its name from the see city, the metropolitan area where its bishop resides. On paper it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Guangzhou (Canton), yet in practice it answers immediately to the Holy See. In theory its territory also extends beyond Hong Kong to a small part of Guangdong province.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].