ECCLESIA IN ASIA On the 20th anniversary of his death, Hong Kong remembers Cardinal Wu

His remains were transferred to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He convened the local Church Synod and was the bridge to mainland China.

Hong Kong () – The diocese is commemorating these days the 20th anniversary of the death of Cardinal John the Baptist Wu Cheng-chung on September 23, 2002. Cardinal Wu was the fifth bishop of Hong Kong and was at the head of the diocese for 27 years, from 1975 until his death. On the occasion of this anniversary, the remains of the cardinal, who had been buried in the San Miguel cemetery in Hong Kong, were transferred on September 28 to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in the presence of a large representation of the clergy. The current Bishop Stephen Chow will also preside at a Mass in his memory at the cathedral on October 4 at 3:00 p.m.

This week the Sunday Examiner, the weekly of the diocese of Hong Kong, devotes ample space to the teaching and pastoral work of Cardinal Wu with two articles written by Fr. Sergio Ticozzi, PIME missionary. “The election of Fr. John the Baptist Wu Cheng-Chung as Bishop of Hong Kong in 1975 – explains Fr. Ticozzi-had caused some negative reactions locally because he came from Taiwan and was considered an “outsider”. Some members of the clergy wanted a bishop who was originally from the diocese. Assuming the leadership of the diocese without the full support of the clergy was a great challenge for the bishop. This, along with some negative experiences, such as the difficult political challenges of Hong Kong and, later, concerns about his health, marked his tenure. However, Bishop Wu was able to face all the challenges in a positive and serene way, keeping a low profile and avoiding being the center of attention. He was a humble man who lived a simple life. However, during the years that he was in charge of the diocese, he experienced important changes and reforms”.

Father Ticozzi particularly recalls the open listening style: his 1989 pastoral letter, “On the way to the bright decade: on the pastoral commitment of the diocese of Hong Kong”, was the result of a consultation that collected responses from 12 thousand Catholics. In 1990 he launched a plan to reorganize the diocese with the Council of Priests and a mixed group of religious and laity. To him is also due the diocesan Synod that Hong Kong held between 2000 and 2001 with the purpose of evaluating the pastoral needs and future perspectives of evangelization in the diocese at the beginning of the third millennium.

But Cardinal Wu was above all the man who fully realized the Hong Kong Church’s vocation to be a bridge to mainland China. Himself – recalls Fr. Ticozzi – “was born on March 26, 1925 in the county of Ng-Wa (Wuhua), in the diocese of Kaying (current Meizhou), in Guangdong. He studied at the local minor seminary until 1946, when he entered the South China Regional Seminary in Hong Kong. He always retained a special emotional bond with his birthplace, although he had not been able to maintain direct contact until he was appointed Bishop of Hong Kong in 1975”.

In 1985 he received an invitation from the Beijing authorities to visit his homeland, which was the first of three historic trips to the People’s Republic of China in 1985, 1986 and 1994. Already in the early 1980s he had founded the Center of the Holy Spirit precisely to support the Church in China

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