Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - About a hundred priests, former graduate seminarians or former students who studied at the Holy Spirit Seminary of the Diocese of Hong Kong, celebrated on September 3rd the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the Seminary, together with His Exc. Mgr. John Tong, Bishop of Hong Kong, who also graduated here. According to reports from the Kong Ko Bao (the Chinese version of the diocesan bulletin), Mgr. Tong invited all the people present to promote the formation of vocation in one’s life, according to the vocation received. Especially the former seminarians, in the Year of the laity, are called to "take St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s father as an example. Despite the lack of priestly vocation, he led the vocational formation of his children and therefore continued to serve the Church". Don Benedict Lam, the current Rector of the Seminary, recalled his period of formation: "We were 33 in 1976. I hope that more and more young people are responding to the call of the Lord".
The Holy Spirit Seminary, originally a Major Seminary in south-east China, was inaugurated on November 1, 1931 thanks to the efforts of "Primum Concilium Sinense" of the Church in China, which took place in Shang Hai in 1924 under the guidance of the first apostolic Delegate, His Exc. Mgr. Celso Costantini (later Cardinal), sent by Pope Pius XI. During this Council 14 major seminaries in China were established, including the Major Seminary in the south-east. Renovated in 1964, the Seminary was entrusted by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to the diocese of Hong Kong, the name changed to "Holy Spirit Seminary." Today, the Seminary has 6 seminarians of the theology faculty and 7 of philosophy, as well as an aspirant. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 09/09/2011)
