Development of Catholic Cemeteries
The Diocese is managing 5 Catholic cemeteries in Hong Kong.
- St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery
- Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
- St. Raphael's Catholic Cemetery
- Sai Kung Catholic Cemetery
- Cheung Chau Catholic Cemetery
Hong Kong has started facing the problem of population aging, and the number of deaths is also increasing year by year. According to the statistics, the ratio of cremation to burial is approaching 9:1, it is estimated that all niches in Catholic cemeteries will be fully allocated within 12 years.
St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery in Happy Valley has been saturated in early years. The niche facilities in Sai Kung Catholic Cemetery have been fully allocated in October 2021; and the allocation of niches in St. Raphael Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan have just been completed. The only remaining Catholic cemeteries that can provide niches are the Holy Cross in Chai Wan and the Catholic Cemetery in Cheung Chau. Immediate development of the cemeteries is imperative.
The Diocese has launched a sustainable development plan at the Chai Wan Catholic Cemetery in September 2020 which has included relaxed restrictions on additional burials to make better use of limited facilities. The Diocese had planned to build family niches in Sai Kung a few years ago, but due to financial resource priorities, the development schedule has not yet been implemented. As for the Cheung Sha Wan Cemetery, the Diocese had proposed to the government the building of additional niches to be included in the ongoing hillside repair project, but unfortunately it was not approved. It is now planned to convert the 26th section of the Cheung Sha Wan Cemetery from a burial cemetery into niches, and hope that this project can be launched as soon as possible to relieve the urgent need.
Furthermore, the diocese has to shoulder all the maintenance costs of the public area of the cemeteries and surrounding hillsides. In case of emergency or large-scale repairs, for instance during the Typhoon Mangkhut attack in 2018, it was required to repair the collapsed stone walls of the Happy Valley Cemetery and clean up lots of tree debris and damaged facilities in each cemetery. And also, in mid-2020, the government had given a repair order to repair the hillside of the Cheung Sha Wan Cemetery; these all add up to a huge demand in funding.
The Diocese is needed to provide enough niches for the deceased faithful and at the same time to ensure that the maintenance of the cemetery complies with the standards. Nevertheless, the income derived from the existing service charges as being specified by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is not sufficient to maintain the current operation and future development.