Father Ron Saucci

Father Ron Saucci

Father Ron Saucci, 68, is a straight-talking Catholic priest who served in the US Army before turning to the priesthood relatively late in life. Ordained in 1965, he approached his mission in Hong Kong with enthusiasm.

My father was born in Argentina, grew up in Italy and then moved to the US. My mother was also Italian. I was the middle of five children. My family thought I was crazy when I became a priest at 31. I was in the army in Germany, and after that I just couldn't settle. A friend pointed me towards the community of Maryknoll Fathers and the rest, as they say, is history.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong in 1968, I worked in a parish in Chai Wan and with refugees. I started a bakery, which produced more than 5,000 buns a day for schools. Most went to Buddhist children and children of other Chinese religions. We employed six people.

Then I had to go to the US on an assignment. While I was there, a public affairs television producer heard me preach and invited me to audition. I was immediately put on contract. I did a weekly talk show and a radio show. Guests included the religious, diplomats, actors/actresses - anybody involved in helping people live a better life. I was elected to the board of directors of the United Nations NGO community, became director of communications for Maryknoll, and got up to my eyeballs in these things.

So then I resigned from everything to return to Hong Kong in 1980. I felt I had invested a large part of my mind and my life in the city, and I could be replaced more easily in the US than in Asia. After returning, I was asked to become the assistant director of the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN). I'm still its chief financial officer. I spend a lot of time writing to people asking for funds. UCAN needs quite a lot of outside help, most of it for budget purposes. I'm responsible for probably 80 to 90 per cent of its $1.7 million annual budget for salaries and upkeep of our offices over Asia.