Remembering Hong Kong’s first Chinese bishop, Francis Hsu
- The Oxford-educated Shanghai native put his consecration down to the Catholic Church’s rapid expansion in the colony
- Hsu was ordained in Rome and was editor of a Chinese Catholic weekly in Hong Kong before being appointed auxiliary bishop
On July 3, 1967, the South China Morning Post reported that the Vatican had appointed Francis Hsu Chen-ping as the Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong, making him the first Chinese bishop to be consecrated in the colony. Speaking to the newspaper, Hsu attributed his posting to the expansion of Catholic activities in Hong Kong and to the Vatican’s policy of localising its representation overseas.
“In Hongkong, Bishop Bianchi has felt that we have expanded so quickly that he would like to have an assistant with the rank of Bishop,” Hsu told the Post, according to a July 4 article, adding the Church believed Christianity should adapt to local cultures.
Born in Shanghai, Hsu studied at the city’s St John’s University and, later, at Britain’s Oxford University. He was ordained, in Rome, in Italy, in 1959, after which he returned to Hong Kong, where he became editor of a Chinese Catholic weekly.
On October 6, the Post reported that Hsu would also be appointed Bishop of Orrea, which was described as “of purely symbolic importance”. “Orrea is nothing more than an area of unrecognisable rubble and ruins somewhere in Morocco. And as far as any one knows, there are no Catholics living in Orrea,” the story continued, explaining that as Hsu would not have a “living” diocese he would be assigned a “decayed” diocese.
Hsu’s consecration occurred on October 7, during what the Post described as a “colourful ceremony” held at the Roman Catholic Cathedral on Caine Road.