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History of the Parish
Overview |
 t. Vincent’s was originally a satellite
parish of Rennie’s Mill in 1954 and established as a parish in
its own right in 1979 |
 he Parish is bordered by Ngau Mei Sea
(east), Po Ning Road (south), Anderson Road (west) and Fei Ngo
Shan (north). |
 illages and locations coming under the
Parish are: Fu Ning Estate, Hang Hau New Village, Pik Uk, Tai
Po Tsai, Man Kung Uk, Seung Yeung, Ha Yeung, Wing Lung Road,
Lobster Road, Tai O Mun, Po Toi O, Sheung Sze Wan,
Silverstrand, Cheng Lan Shu, Bak Shek Wo, Bak Shek Toi, Ta Ku
Ling New Village, University of Science and Technology, Pik
Tsui New Village, Tsui Bin Village and all other villages
along Clear Water Bay Road. |
| he Parish is home to about 350
English-speaking members in almost 65 families and a great number
of foreign domestic helpers,and almost
200 Chinese -speaking families. |
 n average about 300 people attend the
Sunday English Mass, while about 100 people attend the Chinese
Mass. |
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| From fishing village to New Town |
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he beginning of St Vincent's Parish can be
traced back to 1951 when a Belgian missionary, Father A. Palmers,
SAMist, started visiting the small fishing village called Hang Hau
from the Rennie’s Mill Refugee Camp across the Junk Bay or Tseung
Kwan O Bay, where he was in charge of the parish.
In 1955 he built a small chapel and later on established a small
primary school.
When the first CICM Missionary (Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary), Father Ernest Stassen, coming from the North of China,
joined the Team at Rennie's Mill Camp in October 1954, he also
visited the small fishing village from 1955 onward.
CICM Father Octaaf De Vreeze, coming from near Mongolia, joined the
pastoral team responsible for Rennie’s Mill and Hang Hau in October
1956. |
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he CICM Missionaries were founded in Belgium
especially to service China, where they first arrived in 1862.
They came to Hong Kong in 1951. |
 t that time, before Rennie’s Mill was
cleared and demolished in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the
crescent-shaped Bay was reclaimed to make way for Tseung Kwan O New
Town, Rennie's Mill Camp was a rambling squat settlement with
winding, narrow alleys that ran along the waterfront and up along
the hillside. Besides a chapel, there was also a Catholic School
with a secondary and primary section and kindergarten.
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 ennie’s Mill and Junk Bay were situated in
the cradle of the hills, at the far western tip of the Tseung
Kwan O reclamation area beyond the Haven of Hope complex that
dominates the hillside today (on the left driving up towards
the Tseung Kwan O tunnel). |
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 t is hard to picture but today’s Hang Hau
Village was on the waterfront and the only way to get there
quickly in those days was by sampan. |
| n June 1958, the Catholic Bishop of Hong
Kong officially entrusted the area around Rennie's Mill and Hang
Hau to the CICM Missionaries. Father Octaaf De Vreeze was put
in charge of the area. Father A. Palmers left Hong Kong for
ministry in Taiwan and CICM Father Willy Wammes, who had previously
worked in Ningshia in northern (western) China, was appointed to
take care of the Hang Hau area. |
| n that year there were 101 Catholics in the Parish, compared to
57 in 1957. By 1959 there were 114 Catholics, rising to 132 in
1960 and 186 by 1961. |
| n September 1960, the Hong Kong Diocese divided
the Junk Bay area into the two districts: Rennie's Mill and Hang Hau.
Father Willy Wammes was officially appointed the parish priest to Hang
Hau. |
| he Hang Hau Parish then included
Hang Hau and all the small villages around Clear Water Bay stretching from Fei
Ngo Shan to Tai O Mun. |
 y March 1963, there were 52 boys and 42
girls studying at St Vincent’s Primary School.
Father Wammes greatly increased the number of classrooms at the school.
Since 1958 the school had fulfilled all government requirements and
in 1966 it became a government subsidized school. The first principal
was Ms Le Kung- ho, who had been teaching there since 1962.
Some Chinese Sisters of the Announcers of the Lord came for a while
to give catechism lessons. |
| t that time Hang Hau village had about
4,500 residents, of whom 200 had been baptized. Father Willy
Wammes also established a small chapel and a small primary school
(St Michael's) at Tai Chik Sha; it opened in February 1965. He also
built small houses for people in Pak Shek Wo, Tai Po Tsai and Ming Oi
San Tsuen, just near the CWB Park n Shop.
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| n 1967, Father Willy built the
Fabiola Clinic , situated across the road from the church,
with donations from Queen Fabiola of Belgium. The clinic was handed
over to Caritas-Hong Kong, and was originally run as a
maternity centre and nursery by the Sisters of the Precious Blood.
Later it also served as an old people's home and as a refuge for
unwed mothers. It is now used as a drug rehabilitation centre.
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| n December of 1969 the first Eucharistic
Celebration took place in the present St Vincent's Church and
English Mass services were held in the church for the first time.
Until then the English speaking community had attended Sunday Mass
services in nearby PIME House on Clear Water Bay Road, at the top
of the hill just before the Park 'N Shop. |
| n March 1973 Father Willy Wammes died after
a trip to Tai Chek Sha. He served 12 years at St Vincent's.
He was buried in the catholic cemetery at Happy Valley.
He had been popular and well-known; even young people now sometimes
speak as though they have known him personally, although it was
their parents or friends who knew him and not them.
A plaque in his memory is affixed to the front wall of the church.
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| n April 1973 Father Octaaf De Vreeze,
coming from Lei Yue Mun chapel, took over the duties of the
parish priest until the end of March 1976 when he returned to
Belgium. |
 or six months, from April to October 1976,
there was no resident priest. CICM Father Joseph Nijssen,
travelling from Yau Tong Wan, and ICM Sister Caroline Boermans
from Lei Yue Mun, took care of the parish. |
| n October 1, 1976, CICM Father Piet Devos
became the new parish priest. He arranged that from the beginning
of 1977 an English-speaking play school (Peter Pan
Kindergarten) used the car park basement under the church.
The arrangement lasted until the end of 1992.
He also opened up the same basement car park for retreats and
camps for Catholic youth groups on weekends. |
| n August 1977, Father Devos left Hang Hau
to take charge of the Lam Tin Parish at St. Edward’s Primary
School. |
| n October of that same year, St Vincent's
Hang Hau became the new home for the CICM Catechetical
Secretariat and three ICM sisters: Sister Caroline Boermans,
Sister Victoire Braekers and Sister Letty Bartolome.
Sister Victoire took care of pastoral work. Sister Caroline was
in charge of the Catechetical Centre and took care of the
preparatory classes for First Holy Communion and Confirmation;
Sister Letty 's special talents lay in helping the handicapped
in a centre in Kowloon. |
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| rom October 1977 CICM Father Willy Hertecant
served the Parish from Ming Yuen Middle School at Rennie's
Mill Village. Until mid-1989 he usually arrived at the Parish by
boat. |
| n October 1978 CICM Father Leo Blanchard
became the new Parish Priest. He also would travel to Pak Shek Wo
to say Mass for the villagers. At that time a young lay pastoral
worker, Lee Kwok-Ying, joined the parish and worked closely with
Fr Leo and the three Sisters to develop the parish community.
The youth group was meeting regularly and more expatriates moved
into the Parish as Clear Water Bay opened up to development.
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| ister Letty Bartolome eventually moved to
Kowloon in order to be closer to her work. In October 1979 Sister
Therese Sohier joined the Hang Hau ICM community. She worked with
Maryknoll Hospital as a community nurse doing home visits.
She is still residing in the Parish. She is a member of the Parish
Team and helps out in the parish activities, especially in the
team for visiting sick and old people and bringing Holy Communion
to them. |
| Father Leo Blanchard served as parish
priest until October 1980, when he became the parish priest at
St Mary’s Hunghom. Father Willy Hertecant again took over the
duties at Hang Hau. |
| n the beginning of 1981, Sister Caroline
Boermans took over the pastoral work and administration of the
parish from Sister Victoire, who remained in the Hang Hau community
until 1986 when she moved to Taiwan for two years and retired to
Belgium.
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| wo Parish Councils were formed: one for the
Chinese community, one for the English-speaking community.
Also in 1981, the Service of the Word for children during the
English and Chinese Eucharistic Celebrations was started.
Regular children Eucharistic Celebrations were started;
as well as a Bible Week for children and a camp for the altar
servers. |
| n July 1985 the Saint Michael Primary
School had to close down due to the levelling of the area
for the huge dumping site for rubbish at Tai Chek Sha.
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| n 1987, ICM Sister Edith Van Nevel
joined the Parish Team and remained at Hang Hau until 1989.
She went back to Belgium for service and is now working
in Mongolia. |
n 1989, the demolition of part of Hang Hau
village along the waterfront heralded the start of the Tseung
Kwan O New Town project, which involved massive reclamation of
Junk Bay.
This forced the closure of
St Vincent’s Primary School in July 1989. |
| n September 1990 Father Willy Hertecant
established the Saint Vincent's Children's Centre
on the premises of the former St. Vincent's Primary School.
The centre provided a place to study and play for children who
had both parents working.
It also provided lunch for the students and kept them off the
streets after school hours. It closed down on 30th July 2004.
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| he Parish community grew together with
the development of Tseung Kwan O New Town. Faithful from Hong
Shing, Tsui Lam and Po Lam Estates were brought by coach to
St Vincent’s. In 1989 the area across from Po Lam Road became
a new parish: St Andrew’ s Parish, while Fu Ning
Court and Hang Hau New Village come under St Vincent's Parish.
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| n March 2000 air conditioners were
installed in the church. In 2001 the maintenance of several
slopes in the grounds of the church took place at a huge cost.
Hang Hau Parish is now home to almost 1,000 Catholics from about
290 local and expatriate families. |
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Mass Times
Sunday:
08:30am
(Chinese)
10:30am (English)
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Pastoral Team and Parish Staff
Parish Priest and Pastoral Team
Moderator
Father Willy Hertecant joined St Vincent’s in
1980, while he was still working in Rennie's Mill village.
Pastoral Sister and Parish
Administrator
Sister Caroline Boermans has been a
familiar and friendly face at St. Vincent’s since 1977. In
1981 she took over responsibility for administration of the
Parish.
Pastoral Workers
Cheung Sau-ming has been
with the Parish since 1994.
Sister Trees Sohier joined the
Parish in 1979.Since 1999, after retirement as community nurse,
she has devoted most of her time to parish activities.
Parish Council
Ex-officio religious Team
- Fr Willy Hertecant (tel.2719.8750)
- Sr Caroline Boermans (tel.2719.9081)
- Sr Therese Sohier (tel.2719.9081)
Elected Members
- Chairperson: Jo-Anne Ryan
- Vice-chairperson: Alan Duxbury
- Secretary: Barbara Herrmann
- Treasurer: Sr.Caroline Boermans
- Members:
Marc Castagnet; Tess Daran;
Jane Echaluce; Terry Gamao; Lee Holloway; Diane Reynolds;
Steve Reynolds; Roma Roxas; Elke Wiedemann; Tom Wiedemann;
Adal Yung.
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Parish Community
Altar
Servers
Boys and
girls of any age are more than welcome to play a special role
in the Mass by becoming altar servers. The duties are far less
daunting than many children believe and help children to
understand the service of the Mass in greater
detail.
New
volunteers are always welcome. Children from above First Holy
Communion age to teenagers are encouraged to become Altar
Servers for both the Chinese and the English Masses. Training
is provided, as well as a booklet and guide to mass.
If
you’re interested please contact Fr Willy or Sr Caroline at
the Church, or Mr Frank J Adick.
Readers
The
Parish is always on the lookout for readers for the English
service. If you can help out please put your name down on the
roster on the notice board at the entrance to the church, or
contact Adal Yung.
Service
of the Word for Children
Every
Sunday a Service of the Word for youngsters is held during the
first half of the Mass. A Service of the Word for teenagers is
held twice a month.
The children gather at the entrance to
the church and lead the entrance procession before
‘disappearing’ into a room at the back of the church for their
weekly get-together with Sister Caroline and other volunteers.
They then ‘reappear’ for the Offertory Procession before
heading back to sit with mum and dad for the rest of the
Mass.
The Service of the Word is intended to introduce
the teachings of Christ and the Gospel in a more relaxed
manner better suited to children and their somewhat short
attention spans.
Each week, the children thank God for
all the good things that have happened to them and ask the
Lord for forgiveness for any of their
shortcomings.
They listen to a gospel story and then
discuss it. The younger children will often colour in a
picture that relates to one of the day’s readings. Later the
children will pray for those they love and for the needs of
others in the world.
By taking this approach, children
are introduced to the Word of God in a way they enjoy and
understand, which in turn will help nourish their faith as
they grow older.
If you would like your child to take
part in the Service of the Word just bring them to the back of
the church before Mass and help them to line up with the other
children gathered there.
If you want to help out talk
to Sr Caroline.
Music
Saint
Vincent's community is blessed with many great talents,
from professional soloists and accompanists, to highly
talented singers, who have shared the joy of praise music with
parishioners over the years.
For
English Mass, we have three groups of volunteers who lead the
music on Sundays:
* Legion of Mary - every first Sunday of
the month
* Vera Gujil and Singers - every fourth
Sunday of the month
*CFC Singles for Christ Choir Group
- [regular schedule to be confirmed]
New
volunteers are always welcome to join any group, perform
solos, or to lead the Sunday Mass music on their own. A roster
is kept on the notice board near the main door of the church,
where you may sign up. Alternatively, you may contact Heidi
Adick - Music on
hfour@lycos.com.
Coffee
Mornings
Coffee,
cold drinks and biscuits are served after each Sunday Mass.
This is a great opportunity to have a chat, especially if you
are new to the parish. If you want to help out please get in
touch with Roma Roxas.
First
Holy Communion and Confirmation Classes
Lessons will start on Wednesday the 18th of January.
First Holy Communion will be held on Sunday the 21st of May.
The Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary is a lay Catholic organization founded in
Dublin,Ireland, on the 7th of September 1921.
At present we have about 2.5 million active members in over
160 countries.The object of the Legion is the glory of God
achieved by prayer and apostolic work.
United in faith with Mary's love for Jesus, legionaries aim
at recognizing and serving the person of Our Lord in all those
whom they meet.
Legion work comprises the following:
- Ministry to the sick, handicapped and elderly
- Parish census taking and home visitation
- Missionary activities
- Dissemination of Catholic literature and religious articles
- Youth apostolate and contact work
- Teaching young and old catechism RCIA
- Praying for the souls and other special intentions
Note: our group is having " Bible study" every 3rd Sunday,
5:00-6:00 p.m.
Obligations of active membership
- The punctual and regular attendance at the weekly meeting and
the furnishing there of a report of the work done.
- The daily recitation of the Catena ( a prayer composed mainly
of the Magnificat).
- The performance of an active Legionary work.
- Absolute respect for the confidential nature of many matters
discussed at the meeting or learned in connection with the legionary
work.
The weekly meeting, not longer than one and a half hours, has prayer
intermingled with reports and discussion.
Auxiliary members
Those who cannot become active members can become associate members
by undertaking a service of prayer. They recite the Legion prayers,
including the 5 decades of the rosary daily.
An invitation
We cordially invite you to observe our Praesidium meeting.
Day: Sunday
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Venue: St.Vincent's Parish Hall
Contact Persons: Benita Bacaco and Terry Gamao
Tel. No.:2194 4319 and 2335 9345
Praesidium: Mother of Divine Grace
Contact Tel.No. on Sunday: 2335 0964
Activities
Parish
Feast Day
Each year
around the 28th of September, the Parish celebrates the feast
of St Vincent de Paul.
Parish
Walk
- usually held in November.
Advent
Action Projects
Each year during the Advent and Christmas season,
we share of our abundance with less fortunate people.
This year, our action has been for the children's orphanage run
by the White Sisters in Malawi. Most of the orphans are children
of AIDS victims and many carry the HIV virus.This year we have
raised: HK$ 40,169.00.
International Day
- see the
Main pagefor details.
Children’s Masses
- dates not yet available
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Last updated May 2006 |
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