John Wu

Who was John Wu?

John Baptist Wu Cheng-chung was the fifth Bishop of Hong Kong's Catholic church and a Cardinal. He was a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

He was born in the village of Ho Hau, Wu-hua. Baptized in the village's parish church, he received his primary education there. He Joined the diocesan minor seminary of Ka-ying for his secondary education in 1940.

He was appointed the fifth Bishop of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese by Pope Paul VI as successor to Bishop Peter Lei Wang-kei who had died on 23 July 1974. He arrived in Hong Kong and on 25 July was ordained and officially installed as Bishop of the Hong Kong in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

After due preparation, he initiated a Diocesan Renewal Movement for priests, laity and religious. On 25 March 1985, he led a five-member delegation on a seven-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai, at the invitation of the National Bureau of Religious Affairs under the State Council of China. He was the first bishop of Hong Kong to visit the mainland China.