HONG KONG (UCAN) -- On the ninth anniversary of Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty, local Catholics not only held a special prayer meeting but had a full schedule of Church activities.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong presided at the annual Christian prayer meeting at Victoria Park, the starting point of a large-scale public rally and march the afternoon of July 1.

The prayer meeting, co-organized by Hong Kong Catholic diocese's Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) and Commission For Labour Affairs (CLA) together with some Protestant groups, attracted about 100 Christians including several pro-democracy legislators. The theme of this year's meeting was "March for Justice, Fight for Democracy."

Cardinal Zen, an outspoken democracy advocate, attended the prayer meeting for the first time since his elevation as a cardinal in March. Just as in previous years, however, he did not take to the streets for the ensuing rally. He also had to hurry back to the cathedral for the ordination of two deacons. The prayer meeting and the rally both have been held since 2003.

At the prayer meeting, the cardinal encouraged the people to "persist in fighting for early universal suffrage." He expressed his disappointment at seeing no progress on universal suffrage as promised in the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini constitution.

The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress announced last year that universal suffrage will not apply in the election of Hong Kong's third chief executive in 2007 and in Legislative Council elections in 2008. Last December, the Hong Kong legislature rejected political reforms proposed by the local government, which included increasing the seats of the legislature and enlarging the election committee for the chief executive but without giving a timetable for universal suffrage. The government announced then that it would not put forward another reform-proposal package.

Lisa Leung Yuk-ming, JPC chairperson, told UCA News July 3 that the people's aspiration for universal suffrage has not changed. "The government has been making excuses to deprive us of our political rights," she said.

Cardinal Zen told the prayer meeting, "Only democratic progress can guarantee balanced and steady economic development and improve people's livelihood." He charged that delaying the democratic process has made "the rich become richer and the poor become poorer."

This year, participants at the rally also called for a just wage for laborers and better living standards for the poor.

Lawrence An Chung-yuk, CLA secretary general, told UCA News July 3 that people's livelihood can never be separated from politics, and the issue of universal suffrage cannot be discussed without concern for labor issues.

Since September 2005, his commission has been promoting the concept of a "family wage," which means the earnings of a single family member should be enough to support the entire family. The commission has formed a group to calculate such a wage, An said.

Civil Human Rights Front, organizer of the march that followed the prayer meeting, claimed about 58,000 people took part, while the police estimated 28,000. The number of protesters has decreased sharply since last year. In 2003 and 2004, there were 500,000 marchers. The decreased numbers have been attributed to an improved economy and the stepping down in March 2005 of unpopular former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.

Also on July 1, Cardinal Zen represented the Church at a government-hosted flag-raising ceremony in the morning, after which he celebrated Mass for the anniversary of the Little Brethren of Mary prayer community. About 200 Catholics attended the Mass at St. Jerome's Church in the New Territories.

In the afternoon, the cardinal ordained Deacons Martin Yip Po-lam and Edwin Ng Wing-hung in the presence of about 600 Catholics at Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong and 40 priests concelebrated the ordination Mass. While Deacon Ng, 56, is a permanent deacon, Deacon Yip, 34, is in formation for the priesthood.

Deacon Yip told UCA News on July 4 that his ordination on the anniversary of Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty reminded him of the role of the Church in society. In his view, while cohesion within the Church community is strong, little attention has been paid to society. "When we talk about evangelization, service and social concern, we have to know how society views our Church too," he asserted.

Meanwhile, about 200 young Catholics joined a camp July 1-2 to prepare themselves for the upcoming Asian Youth Day, to be held July 28-Aug. 5 here. The camp included reflections and sharing, confession and Sunday Mass celebrated by Cardinal Zen. The young people also learned some greetings in other Asian languages, as well as a dance to accompany the theme song.

Such a formation activity on the weekend of the handover anniversary "reminded us that we are part of China," Fion Yuen Yuk-ha, a group leader in the camp, told UCA News. "Besides fighting for democracy in Hong Kong and in mainland China," she said, "we the young generation should bring about the hope of more religious freedom and economic and political development to our compatriots."

Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the British in 1842, after the First Opium War. China further ceded southern Kowloon to the United Kingdom in 1860, after its defeat in the Second Opium War. Chinese historians also assert that their nation was forced in 1898 to lease the New Territories, the rest of the territory, to the British for 99 years. The lease expired in 1997.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)