Supporting the Development of Catholic Cemeteries – Building this peaceful place Together

The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong has dedicated among others to caring for the faithful, striving to provide a dignified and tranquil resting place for them. Following the population aging trend and ever increasing demand of burial places in Hong Kong, the Diocesan Board of Catholic Cemeteries sees pressing need for rapid development of new cemetery facilities.

The Diocese currently manages five Catholic cemeteries in Hong Kong:

St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery in Happy Valley has stopped allocating new burial places to lay faithful for years. All niches in Sai Kung Catholic Cemetery and St. Raphael's Catholic Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan were totally allocated in October 2021 and September 2022 respectively. At present, only Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Chai Wan and the Cheung Chau Catholic Cemetery have available niches for allocation to Catholic faithful. Acute shortage of niche facilities in our cemeteries calls for immediate development for replenishment.

The Diocese planned to build family niches in Sai Kung a few years ago. The idea was put on hold due to funding problem. While in Cheung Sha Wan Cemetery, development of a new columbarium at Section 26 to provide around 4,200 niches has been under construction. Upon completion, all niches will be allocated as "Niche (Multiple Extendable Terms)". This new initiative aims to restore continuous supply of niches to meet growing demand. The development is scheduled for full completion by mid-2026.

In May 2024, the Diocese has launched the “Garden of Hope” (ashes burial service) in Cheung Sha Wan providing additional burial choices for the deceased and easing the pressure due to deficiency of niches in Catholic Cemeteries. Once the ashes is buried, no exhumation, relocation, co-burial or exportation is allowed. The ashes buried will naturally decompose after several years and all burial lots for the ashes will be subject to re-use after 10 years. This arrangement not only promotes the sustainability in the use of land, but also aligns the Government's promotion for green burial while fulfilling the spirit in Catholicism. Improvement works is currently in progress and is scheduled for completion by the Chung Yeung Festival in 2025.

The Diocese has to shoulder all the maintenance costs of the public area of the cemeteries and the surrounding slopes. In September 2023, severe rainstorms seriously ravaged many areas in Hong Kong, our Catholic cemeteries was no exception. The Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Chai Wan was severely flooded resulting in large-scale landslides and damages of vehicular access. A series of emergency repairs were required to resume normal operation. The emergency repair works involves huge expenditure that far exceeded the cemetery's affordability. With limited resources, the Diocese is unable to shoulder the costs.

The Diocese is obliged to provide sufficient niches for the deceased faithful on one hand, and also to ensure follow up maintenance of the same is up to standards on the other. While most of the cemetery fees are in one off payment basis, revenue so generated from the existing level of service charges is not sufficient to cover both operation and development costs.

We sincerely appeal to your generosity, hoping that through collective support, cemeteries development and improvement of facilities can be sustained, and peaceful resting place for all the deceased faithful would be maintained. Every donation is an act of love and truly reflects our unity in Christ.

'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' (Acts 20:35) Thank you for your kind support!

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