The idea of establishing Catholic university in Hong Kong was first made by the late Bishop

Francis Hsu Francis Hsu Chen-Ping ; (20 February 192023 May 1973), was a Chinese clergyman. He was the third bishop, (the first ethnically-Chinese one), of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. Born into a Methodist family in Shanghai, Hsu joined the C ...

, a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

in Hong Kong. As of 2015, only

Caritas Hong Kong Caritas Hong Kong is a charitable organisation, a member of Caritas Internationalis, founded by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong in July 1953. It started with relief and rehabilitation services to the poor and the distressed after the Second ...

is still endeavoring to achieve this goal.

Efforts by Caritas Hong Kong

has been working towards having its two schools, the

Caritas Institute of Higher Education Caritas Institute of Higher Education (formerly known as Caritas Francis Hsu College) is a post-secondary college in Hong Kong established by Caritas Hong Kong, with campuses located at Tseung Kwan O, New Territories. The institute is able to ...

and

Caritas Bianchi College of Careers Caritas Bianchi College of Careers (CBCC) was established in 1971 and has been providing post-secondary education since then. At present, it mainly offers sub-degree programmes in three general disciplines: business and hospitality management ...

, receive self-accreditation status from the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

, and then have them become a constituent college of the Catholic University. Caritas Hong Kong aims to establish a Catholic University within 10 years. By northern summer 2016, a new campus for

will be ready for use. In 2014, school principal Reggie Kwan told reporters the school aims to be recognized as a university by education officials within five years. When that happens, they plan to name the new university "St. Francis University".

Former efforts by Society of Jesus, Chinese Province

On 3 June 2011, the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

's Chinese Province announced that it has made an application to the Hong Kong government for a tract of land in

Fanling Fanling ( zh, t=粉嶺; also spelled Fan Ling or Fan Leng) is a town in the New Territories East of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District. Fanling Town is the main settlement of the Fanling area. The name Fanling i ...

, as a new home for a co-ed,

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

Catholic university that will host around 3,000 students, all of whom will live on campus, and take courses on Theology and philosophy, among other courses. At the time, the organization announced it has hired a retired American university president as its principal, and other executives have also been hired. At the time, the Society of Jesus did not rule out cooperation with Caritas Hong Kong, and even stated that students from both schools could be allowed to take courses in each other's institution. In May 2015, plans by the Society of Jesus to create a Jesuit Liberal Arts College in Hong Kong were cancelled.

References

Catholic universities and colleges in Hong Kong Universities in Hong Kong {{HongKong-edu-stub

Efforts by Caritas Hong Kong

Former efforts by Society of Jesus, Chinese Province

See also

References