The Hong Kong Diocesan Chinese Priests Association was established on the 21st of March, 1979.  Its main goal is to foster friendship and liaison among Chinese priests.    At that time, there was a group of Chinese priests who, seeing that members of various missionary societies regularly gathered together, applied to John B. Wu,  the then Bishop of the Hong Kong Diocese,  for setting up the association.  The late Fr. Joseph Mak Yiu Cho was the first Chairman and I was the Treasurer.  During the last thirty years, I have been chairman twice and vice-chairman once.<br/><br/>
The present Chairman is Fr. Edward Chau (1980*).   Fr. Philip Chan (1988*) and I (1972*) are the Vice-chairmen responsible for Internal Affairs and External Affairs, respectively.  The Treasurer is Fr. Tam Hon Wai (2008*), and Fr. Liu Ngai Lun is the Secretary (2008*).  As there is a difference of 8 to 10 years between ea our priestly ordinations, it is like having three generations working together.<br/><br/>
There are altogether 68 diocesan priests serving in the Hong Kong Diocese, including Fr. Francis Elsinger, who was formerly of Maryknoll Fathers.  The Hong Kong Diocese also has 8 permanent deacons and 232 missionary priests from 16 different missionary societies.<br/><br/>
The establishment of the Chinese Priests Association is not to counteract the influence of the missionary societies.  Quite the opposite, it wants to work with them, using the various gifts bestowed by God to build the Church in Hong Kong.<br/><br/>
It was a surprise for me to be elected vice-chairman as I am no longer in the prime of my life.  Anyway, I hope that I can help bring together the diocesan priests and motivate them to move towards stronger unity.
The Pope has announced that immediately following the close of the Pauline Year, a year of the priestly vocation will be opened on the 19th of June.  This coincides with the earlier announcement made by the Hong Kong Diocese for the commencement of the Year for Vocation in July.  Let us pray that the guidance of the Good Lord may lead more and more young people to join the procession of those who serve the Church.<br/><br/>
Note: (*) denotes the year for priestly ordination