Catholic Church hopes to turn Sai Kung island site into a place of pilgrimage
An abandoned chapel on an island off Sai Kung where the newly canonised 19th century missionary Father Joseph Freinademetz worked before going to the mainland might be rebuilt.
The Austrian missionary arrived in Hong Kong in 1879, serving for nearly two years at the Sacred Parish in Sai Kung, where he also learned to speak Hakka.
He then moved to Shandong and spent 30 years converting Chinese to Catholicism. He died there on January 28, 1908. In that time he saw the number of Christians there grow from 158 to 45,000.
His connection to Hong Kong has led the local Catholic diocese to label him the first Hong Kong missionary to be canonised.
The diocese will hold a thanksgiving Mass for the new saint tomorrow, to be led by Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun and Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon, together with at least 40 priests. About 1,000 people are expected to attend the afternoon Mass at Sing Yin Secondary School in Lam Tin.