Father Peter Leung Tat-choy celebrates his golden jubilee of prieshood on August 12. Through his pastoral work over the decades, he has dedicated himself to promoting the Focolare Movement’s spirituality and overcoming challenges with love.
Born in 1942 in Hong Kong, Father Leung entered the Holy Spirit Seminary in 1958. After completing his philosophy studies, together with his fellow seminarians, Luke Tsui Kam-yiu and Thomas Kwan Tsun-tong, he was sent to Rome for further studies in theology.
The Kung Kao Po published an interview with Father Leung on July 3, where he recalled that after their formation in 1971, he was supposed to return to Hong Kong with his companions. However, he came across the Focolare Movement in Rome and was attracted by their spirituality of fraternity and peace. He decided to remain and receive training from the ecumenical community for half a year. “This was a divine gift, as I could feel a family-like harmony among the members of the Focolare Movement and lived a life that consecrated people seek,” Father Leung said.
“The big question in my mind was: should I stay and join the movement as a lay member, or should I go back to Hong Kong and become a priest? In the end, I decided to become a priest,” he said.
He returned to Hong Kong and was ordained a priest on 12 August 1972. He celebrated his first Mass at St. Teresa’s Church in Prince Edward Road, where he had been baptised with his mother. He is grateful that years later, he had the opportunity to serve at St. Teresa’s as the parish priest. Father Leung said he felt very close to the older members of the parish who were his contemporaries.
In the late 1950s, he had a chance to visit the Holy Spirit Seminary, which had just moved to Pokfulam, together with other altar servers and was invited by the then rector of the seminary and parish priest of St. Teresa’s parish, Father Secondo Einaudi, to join as a seminarian
Born at the time of the Second World War, Father Leung said he was particularly eager for peace and friendship. During his mother’s pregnancy, his family lived near St. Teresa’s. The area was regularly bombed by warplanes, resulting in parts of human bodies and building debris piling up to the first floor.
“Perhaps my mother’s fear has spread to me and made me grow up to be easily stressed and anxious, a challenge God wants me to overcome,” he said. However, he believes growing up in the chaos of war has helped him develop a compassionate disposition.
In addition to his father passing away early, Father Leung’s mother was hospitalised at St. Teresa’s Hospital when she became sick. Their gratitude goes out to Father Carmelo M. Orlando who was at St. Teresa’s parish at the time and who visited them at the hospital. He initiated them into the faith, and they were later baptised at St. Teresa’s. Father Leung served at the parish as an altar server afterwards.
In the late 1950s, he had a chance to visit the Holy Spirit Seminary, which had just moved to Pokfulam, together with other altar servers and was invited by the then rector of the seminary and parish priest of St. Teresa’s parish, Father Secondo Einaudi, to join as a seminarian.
Father Leung knew that his mother loved him most and wanted her son to have a family, “But she only answered me gently, ‘If you are really happy, join the seminary.’ My mother gave me to God generously so that I could become a priest. This is a sacrifice.” He joined the seminary in 1958. His mother died of lung disease shortly after and did not see him become a priest.
The big question in my mind was: should I stay and join the movement as a lay member, or should I go back to Hong Kong and become a priest? In the end, I decided to become a priest,
Father Leung
After leaving Rome, Father Leung did not get involved in the Focolare Movement, but he tried to practice its spirituality of love and communion. While serving in different parishes, he sought to create a spirit of openness and harmony, encouraging parishioners to form small communities and working with them with trust.
At Star of the Sea Church in Chai Wan, he helped parishioners set up the Faith and Light group to bring together the families of the mentally-disadvantaged parishioners. Even today, he maintains contact with the parishioners who initiated the group.
Besides serving in parishes across Hong Kong over the past decades, Father Leung also served as vice-rector of the Holy Spirit Seminary, and he was also assigned to serve at a Chinese parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada.
When he returned to Hong Kong in 2007, he served at Annunciation Church, Tsuen Wan. During the 2010s, he served as the chairperson of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission, striving to strengthen cooperation and friendship between the diocese and other Christian denominations with the spirituality of ecumenism he learned from the Focolare Movement.
Father Laung became active in online evangelisation even at a time when social media and smartphones were not yet popular. Under the title Pastor’s Corner, he has been publishing reflections since 1988. These writings have been gathered into four volumes of Footsteps with the Lord
The Covid-19 pandemic was a challenging time for the priest, who was concerned about his parishioners’ spiritual and physical well-being. He and his parishioners helped those whose livelihoods were affected. He travelled in a car and blessed the whole of Shaukiwan with a crucifix, saying prayers for the end of the outbreak along the way.
Father Laung became active in online evangelisation even at a time when social media and smartphones were not yet popular. Under the title Pastor’s Corner, he has been publishing reflections since 1988. These writings have been gathered into four volumes of Footsteps with the Lord.
Since 2007, Father Leung has run a bi-lingual personal website at www.frpeterleung.com, where his past writings have been archived. “I wish that through this media, I can insert God’s message into the hearts of those who have the heart to listen,” he writes on his webpage.
Currently, Father Leung is assistant parish priest at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Tai Po. Looking back on his years of priesthood, Father Leung would like to thank the Blessed Mother, Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement, and all those who have inspired him.
“I thank God for having introduced me to the Focolare Movement. I grew up in a time without much love and harmony, and the Focolare Movement’s spirituality of ecumenism filled up what was lacking in my upbringing,” he said.
At the end of the year, Father Leung will go to St. Teresa’s, the root of his faith, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the church, an event he is looking forward to. KKP/SE, Hong Kong
