HONG KONG (SE): “We will not feature any stars in the concert. Everyone is a star and we will perform together as a family,” said Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming, as he prepared for the diocesan fund-raising concert in June.
The Diocesan Fund-raising Commission, of which Father Chan is chairperson, is organising the show for Church Building and Development, to raise funds to build new churches, add additional urn-niches in Catholic cemeteries and maintain old church buildings.
The commission plans to organise a concert with the theme, House among Houses, with performances highlighting the whole Church as a family. It echoes the diocese’s call for parish renewal in pastoral care, encouraging people to participate in parish services actively.
John Cardinal Tong Hon will play the violin in the concert. Other performers include parish priests, priests and sisters from religious institutes, such as the Oblates and the Divine Word missionaries, permanent deacons with families, students from Catholic secondary, primary schools and kindergartens, and various Catholic music bands formed by the laity.
The concert, originally scheduled to be held at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on February 25, has been postponed to May or June as Hong Kong deals with the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the Omicron variant spreading across the local community, all face-to-face religious gatherings remain suspended [Chancery Notice, January 18].
Father Chan hopes the concert will showcase the artistic talents of Hong Kong’s Catholics. One of the performances will feature over 140 primary school students performing together on stage.
The preparation committee ruled out the possibility of holding the show online as the presence of the performers together on stage is crucial to create an atmosphere of unity that a virtual concert cannot replace.
In addition, the production cost will be huge considering the large number of people taking part. Over 300 tickets have already been sold.
More than $3 million had been raised by the end of January. The preparation committee expects to raise $5 million from the event.
According to Daniel Cheung Yun-On, chairperson of the preparation committee of the concert, the postponement can be a blessing in disguise as it will allow the performers more time to prepare for an even better concert. Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth Stadium allowed a full refund of the deposit during the pandemic.
The committee will encourage people to support the fund-raising activity by joining its Faith, Hope & Love Honourable Benefactor programme. People donating $30,000 or more will be recognised as “Faith Honorable Benefactors”, while those giving $50,000 and $100,000, or more, will be recognised as “Hope Honourable Benefactors” and “Love Honourable Benefactors.” People can also support the concert through the Hearts Connected Online Donation and express their encouragement through the online platform three weeks before the concert.
The concert is only one of the fund-raising programmes of the year. According to Agnes Mak Tang Pik-yi, a member of the fund-raising commission, a rope-skipping event is scheduled for June 27.
Apart from students, representatives from religious institutes and Caritas-Hong Kong will be invited to take part. An auction will also be held at the end of the year.
Funds raised will be primarily allocated to establish new churches in Fanling and Tung Chung, along weith significant repairs of some old churches
She was impressed by the response as members of the commission visited parishes to raise funds. She remembered many touching stories: a man injured in a traffic accident reminded his family to donate for him; a foreigner said she only had $50 and asked if they minded accepting the small donation; an older woman expressed her gratitude for the support of the Church during her childhood, found it a must to donate and asked them to fill in the donation form for her.
Funds raised will be primarily allocated to establish new churches in Fanling and Tung Chung, along weith significant repairs of some old churches.
The church extension in Fanling will be able to accommodate seven to eight hundred people upon completion. The cost is high considering the latest requirements for modern buildings to accommodate an increasing population. Construction began in February 2019 and the basement is already completed.
Bella Cheung Sin-kwan, treasurer of the preparation committee and a parishioner at St. Joseph’s Church, Fanling, said the parish started to approach the residents of Queen’s Hill Estate who had moved in last year and did evangelisation work. Father Chan explained that Tung Chung also needs an official church building as it will be an important transportation hub in the future. It will be a landmark for pilgrims in the Lantau Island.
A portion of the funds raised will be designated for developing Catholic cemeteries which Father Chan explained, require a long-term plan for development. At present, the diocese has a sufficient supply of urn-niches, thanks to good planning done two to three decades ago.
The diocese set up the commission in March 2019, with the then apostolic administrator, John Cardinal Tong Hon, appointing Father Benedict Lam Cho-ming as the first chairperson. In December 2021, Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, sj, appointed Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming as the second chairperson.
Members include representatives from the faithful and professionals from various sectors of the community.
The commission aims to raise $500 million in three years to support the development of the Church. As at the end of January, $60 million has been raised
