Roman Catholic Cathedral (2nd & current location) [1888- ]

We know the tower was demolished in 1947, and I'd imagined it had been damaged during the war, possibly by a stray bomb. So I was interested to read this explanation of what happened:

In 1888 when Bishop T Raimondi, the PIME, and other PIME missionaries built the cathedral in Hong Kong, they faithfully followed the Catholic tradition of adding a belfry. Next to the church's main entrance they built a 150 foot high, imposing belltower housing a set of melodious spells imported from Italy. The belfry was to be a visible and highly audible symbol of the presence of Christ in the midst of "pagan" Hong Kong.

Little did they know that 54 years later those bells would be requisitioned by the Japanese and melted into arms and ammunition to kill the Chinese. Also, they never foresaw that the wooden structure supporting the numerous bells would one day be quite literally converted to rice to save many people from starvation.

During the occupation, cooking fuel was a rare and expensive commodity in Hong Kong because there was no coal, nor gas, firewood. Bishop Valtorta, with the full consent of the community, decided to demolish the belfry and sell the beams as firewood. The proceeds of that sale gave us and many of our poor people "daily rice" for many months.

When the money from the sale of the belfry was exhausted, there was nothing else to sell but a few gold chalices and other valuable religious articles that had been donated to the parish through the years. They were kept in a safe in the Bishop's office. Every three or four weeks, when he was alone, good Bishop Valtorta would open the safe, and with much hesitation choose a golden paten, or the gold cup of a chalice or a ciborium, to be sold. After he had made his choice, he would carefully hide it under his cassock and slowly walk downtown to sell it ounce by ounce to a Japanese shop, after endless haggling about the value. Then, pale and haggard, he would return to the cathedral and give all the money to the administrator, Fr. E. Bruzzone. In those days, selling gold involved a great deal of personal risk because of the many spies and robbers, and Bishop Valtorta preferred to risk his own life rather than endanger any of his priests.

Pages 267-8 of China: Lost mission? by Nicholas Maestrini.

Regards, David

Some notes from a visit to the cathedral last month:

• The old stone staircase on the western wall of the compound led up to St Joseph's Terrace.
• The layout of the cathedral has changed over the years. There used to be a side entrance into the building, next to where the altar is today.
• The Portugese names on the pillars are the names of benefactors.
• The stone used to build the cathedral is believed to have come from Kowloon quarries, the same as were used to supply stone for the French cathedral in Canton.
• The cast iron staircase in the SW corner probably came from Britain. There are also cast iron buttresses in the roof.
• Three altars at the front (north end) of the current cathedral were moved here from the previous cathedral on Wellington Street. If you stand facing north, the one on the left side in the current cathedral was the main altar in the old cathedral.
• Again if facing north, a pillar on the left at the front was damaged by a Japanese bomb / shell during the fighting in 1941. There is a small plaque in Chinese that notes it.

Thanks to Geoff Emerson for arranging the visit, and to Father Louis Ha for showing us around.

Regards, David