A New Chapter in Hong Kong’s History: The 1950s

Abstract

This chapter begins with China’s Three-Self Movement—in Catholic and Protestant churches—urging Chinese Christians on the mainland to strictly follow the principles of self-support, self-administration, and self-propagation. It mentions the arrests and persecutions of priests, nuns and Chinese Catholics in China, the departure of Archbishop Antonio Riberi (the Vatican’s internuncio to China) in 1951, and the wrongful accusation of spying made against American Maryknoll Bishop James Edward Walsh. Then it elaborates on the Church’s emergency relief for refugees from mainland China and the building of stone houses for fire victims, who originally lived in squatter huts on the hillside. It talks about Bishop Lorenzo Bianchi, PIME (Hong Kong Diocese), the Eighth and Ninth General Chapters of the Precious Blood Sisters (in 1951 and 1954 respectively), Mother Lucy Chan, Precious Blood Hospital, Precious Blood Orphanage (Fanling), Tack Ching Girls’ Middle School, Precious Blood Girls’ Middle School, and the novitiate.