Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong and the Holy See Study Mission will jointly host a musical offering and concelebrated Mass to celebrate the 84th birthday of Pope Francis. The celebrations will be held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at Caine Road on December 13 at 5.00pm.
Pope Francis will turn 84 on December 17. The celebrations in the diocese on 13 will coincide with his 51st Sacerdotal Anniversary.
Owing to the uncertainties due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the organisers have scaled down the celebrations this year. In the past years, a musical concert by an international choir was part of celebrating the pope’s birthday in Hong Kong. However, this year a Catholic choir in Hong Kong, Vox Antiqua, will perform an hour-long musical offering before the Mass at 6.00pm.
According to the communique from Monsignor Javier Herrera Corona, the head of the Holy See Study Mission, it is an occasion to pray for and pay homage to Pope Francis. This year’s event consists of a “solemn Eucharistic Celebration preceded by a musical offering” with the theme: “Trust in the Lord.” The poster presents the iconic image of Pope Francis praying before the Crucifix for an end to the Coronavirus pandemic, before the special Urbi et Orbi blessing on March 27 this year.
In order to facilitate the seating arrangements, the organisers request the faithful to reserve their seats through online registration. The musical offering and Mass will be live-streamed. For details on webcast link and ticket registration through scanning the QR code, please refer the poster below. Tickets registration can also be done here:
In case of cancellation of the event due to the pandemic restrictions, the organisers hope to go ahead with the live streaming of the musical offering and Mass through webcast by the Diocesan Audio Visual Centre.
