HONG KONG (SE): Father Luc Rene Young Chen Yin, of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was named by Pope Francis as the apostolic administrator of the Catholic Vicariate of Rodrigues, on the island nation of Mauritius, on January 4. (Sunday Examiner, January 17). The Oblates in Hong Kong organised a private commissioning ceremony for him, officiated by delegation superior, Father Slawomir Kalisz, at Notre Dame parish, Ma Tau Wai, on January 11.
In his homily, Father Young said that although he had to leave Hong Kong, a place where he had served for more than 30 years, his heart is still with the Oblates and the people of the city. He admitted that he had never thought of being an apostolic administrator. Although nervous about his new duties, he is determined adjust to his new assignment.
Father Young was born in 1960 in Rodrigues and grew up with 11 siblings in an agricultural town with fine-grained beaches. Recalling his childhood, he shared his love for swimming in the sea and his deep connections with his family and native land.
When he left for Hong Kong in 1984, his mother gave him a shell she collected from the beach as a token as his family could not be with him.
“I have kept this shell with me for 36 years. It is like the company of my family,” he said, showing the shell to the Oblates at the ceremony.
Father Young is second generation Hakka Chinese migrant. He joined the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in Calcutta in 1984 and was assigned to Hong Kong to receive formation as a novice. During that time, he went to Notre Dame parish every day for Mass and met Oblate Father John Wotherspoon, who later became his mentor, as he brought him to visit the Vietnamese refugee camps and the prisons. He joined the Oblates in 1985.
Father Young was a nurse before he joined the seminary so he has a particular concern for the sick. After his ordination in 1992, he often spent time visiting patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital and offered Masses for the nurses, apart from dealing with the pastoral work in Notre Dame parish where he was assigned.
“The sorrow reminded me that our lives belong to God,” he said, recalling that he often quietly approached their sickbeds, laid hands on them and prayed for them.
In 2001, he was assigned to Epiphany parish in Lantau Island. He loved the simple life on the island, as it was similar to the situation in his hometown.
To show the concern of the parish for the low-income families in Lantau, from time to time Father Young provided them with second-hand clothes, shoes and other daily necessities donated by parishioners.
He compared the projects to “grocery stores” as they reminded him of the one run by his parents when he was young.
Since 2008, Father Young has worked with disadvantaged orphans at a non-government organisation in China. He said he was most skilled at preparing milk for babies and taking care of their daily needs with his nursing skills. However, he said it was sad to see many of them, some less than a month old, pass away from congenital diseases.
“The sorrow reminded me that our lives belong to God,” he said, recalling that he often quietly approached their sickbeds, laid hands on them and prayed for them.
Father Young said he always reminded the orphans to study hard and made a lot of effort to teach them English, as he believes knowledge can bring a better future for the young.
Rodrigues is about 70 per cent the size of Lantau, with a population of over 40,000, of which 90 per cent are Catholics, some of whom are Chinese migrants baptised on the island.
Father Young, said there are three other priests, three nuns and a seminarian on the island. “The priests there are very young. At the age of 60, I am the eldest among them,” he said. Together they serve six parishes and three chapels.
Father Young was scheduled to go back to Rodrigues in mid-January.
