Reshaping the Cradle of Catholic Leaders in Hong Kong: 

An Oral History Research Project for the South China Regional Seminary and the Holy Spirit Seminary 

 About the Project

The South China Regional Seminary (now Holy Spirit Seminary) in Hong Kong was the only one that survived in political movements among the seminaries established in the early 20th century in China. 

During the operation of the South China Regional Seminary, a number of bishops, more than 250 priests and lay leaders were nurtured nationwide. After the regional seminary ended its mission, dozens of clergy were trained in the Holy Spirit Seminary in the same venue to continue the mission of its precursor. The Catholic Church has a history of more than 100 years in Hong Kong and now has more than 400,000 followers led by bishops and priests. The formation of clergy becomes the key to understanding this religious force, which influences and promotes changes to society.

This research has been completed in 2021, and a book launch was held in October 2021 for the two Chinese books Cradles of the Leaders of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong and South China Regional Seminary/ Holy Spirit Seminary: Remembrance of People and Things.

Cradles of the Leaders of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong is a collection of oral histories of 35 priests and five nuns to achieve the main purpose of this study, that is, to reconstruct the development of the two seminaries from the 1930s to 1970s against the background of mainland China and Hong Kong societies; to study how and why the formation of Chinese priests facilitate Hong Kong becoming the largest Chinese Catholic diocese in the world, with a comparison to the formation of Religious sisters; and to explore the process of inculturation of Catholicism and its impact on culture and society. 

As for the South China Regional Seminary/ Holy Spirit Seminary: Remembrance of People and Things, it is a booklet classified by people, events, and things as a supplement to the Cradles of the Leaders of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, the main result of this research. It includes an introduction to the local seminaries before the establishment of the South China Regional Seminary in 1931; the historical milestones of the transition of the South China Regional Seminary to the Holy Spirit Seminary; and a simple comparison between the people and things of the two seminaries.