The Prince and the Bishop

Ben Kwok December 08, 2021 10:06

Most Reverend Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.J., Bishop of Hong Kong. Photo: Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong

Borrowing from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy "To be or not to be" may well fit into the situation faced by our recently-installed Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong.

While Prince Hamlet mopes about how challenging and difficult human life is, and how death and the finite departure would then be an ultimate option, would it not be similarly challenging and difficult for the most reverend Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan in forging a united front for the faithful local communities ahead?

To the half-a-million Catholic faithfuls in Hong Kong, the ordination of Bishop Chow may have sealed their wound of not having a leader, yet, it does not mean that their yearning for peace and unity can be easily achieved just by having one, as we have all been traumatized by political divisions, generational discords and wealth rifts in recent years.

Bishop Chow is a Jesuit, with his pastoral trainings received from the Society of Jesus. Prior to that, he had been educated by Jesuit teachings in Hong Kong since his primary years as a local student and subsequently as teacher and school supervisor as well as the Society’s Provincial of the Chinese Province.

He is an Ivy League-trained educator cum psychologist, and was once tasked with setting up the first Jesuit University in Hong Kong. The university project went well until the government had a change of heart and took back the assigned piece of land for housing purposes.

The decades-long training affords Bishop Chow the rare qualification and unique experiences that may come in handy when facing great challenges in bridging the great divide in modern-day Hong Kong.

Jesuits founder St. Ignatius of Loyola believes that Examen is a gift that comes directly from God. One of the few rules of prayer that the saint installed for the Jesuit order is the requirement that Jesuits practice the Examen twice daily — at noon and at the end of the day.

Simply put, the process is to become aware of God's presence; look back on the events of the day with gratitude; review and reflect; followed by a determination to amend and always look towards tomorrow as a new day. It is believed by so doing the Jesuits can achieve Magis (ad majorem Dei gloriam, a Latin phrase meaning "for the greater glory of God"), Society of Jesus’s motto.

We Chinese may find it very similar to Confucius teaching as recorded in The Analects where the great master advised us to “examine ourselves thrice a day”.

Religion aside, if any of our government officials can also adopt that teaching and constantly self-reflect, would we still be in such a sorry state of affairs now?

As Bishop Chow stated, “unhappy and uncomfortable” events that had gripped Hong Kong in the past should be put aside, he also pointed out explicitly that the church without the young has no future. Same for Hong Kong.

-- Contact us at [email protected]

Ben Kwok

EJ Insight writer

Hong Kong

Integration of GIS and BIM can drive development of smart city Dr. Winnie Tang

The China Association for Geospatial Industry and Sciences (“the CAGIS”) released the Top Ten Highlights of China's Geographic Information Industry in 2023, which provides much inspiration. The

Equip young people for the future Dr. Winnie Tang

In late February, the inaugural flight of an air taxi from Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Homeport to Zhuhai Jiuzhou Port took only 20 minutes with an estimated one-way ticket price of 200 to 300 yuan per

Are we raising a generation of leaders, or of followers? Brian YS Wong

The essence of education is defined not by the facts it imparts, but the potential knowledge it inspires students to individually pursue on their own. Put it this way – the ideal form of education

The urgent need for reforms to sex education in Hong Kong Sharon Chau

Nearly one in every four university students (23%) in Hong Kong has been sexually harassed, according to a 2019 report published by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). A 2019 study found that

STEAM should be linked to real life Dr. Winnie Tang

In the 2017 Policy Address, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education was proposed as one of the eight major directions to promote I&T development. Since then, funding has