New bishop succeeds in Hong Kong

New bishop succeeds in Hong Kong

New Bishop of Hong Kong, Michael Yeung Ming-cheung.- RV

(Vatican Radio)  A new bishop has succeeded in the Diocese of Hong Kong in continental China.   Coadjutor Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong became bishop after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal John Tong Hon, who stepped down having reached the canonical retirement age of 75 three years ago. 

‎Unlike an auxiliary bishop, a coadjutor bishop has the right to succession in the case of the ‎retirement, ‎resignation or death of the current bishop.  ‎ ‎Bishop Yeung, 71, whom Pope Francis had appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong on July 11, 2014, was nominated Coadjutor Bishop of Hong Kong on Nov. 13, last year.   

Bishop Yeung was born in Shanghai on 1 December 1945 into a Catholic family and arrived in Hong ‎Kong when he was four. He worked for an export-import firm before entering the seminary in Hong Kong at the age of 26. He was ordained a priest on June 10, 1978. He completed studies in communication ‎‎(Syracuse, USA) and in philosophy and education (Harvard, USA). Since August 2003 he has been ‎heading the local Caritas and serving as Vicar General since 2009. He was ordained auxiliary bishop in August ‎‎2014.  ‎

Cardinal Tong, who has retired, was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong by Pope St. John Paul II on September 13, 1996, and Coadjutor Bishop on January 30, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.  He succeeded Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun as Bishop of Hong Kong on April 15, 2009, under Pope Benedict, who elevated him to the rank of a cardinal on February 18, 2012.

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