About 1,000 people flocked to Hong Kong’s main Catholic cathedral for the late Pope Francis’ requiem mass on Monday evening, with mourners at the service hearing of the pontiff’s “deep care and concern about the church in China”.
Retired Cardinal John Tong Hon, who presided over the 1½-hour mass at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Central, recounted his past meetings with the pontiff during the service.
Congregants also offered up prayers for the late pope and sang hymns.
Among the attendees were former leaders Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, veteran politician Martin Lee Chu-ming, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan and Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho.
Flowers from Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen were also placed outside the cathedral.
During his sermon, Tong, who attended the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013, recalled offering the pontiff a bronze statue of “Our Lady of Sheshan” – a celebrated title of the Virgin Mary commonly used by Chinese Catholics.
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