Full bibliography

Hong Kong and Macau, 1921-Present, by Kathryn Spicer

In 1921, the Maryknoll Sisters began foreign mission work in the South China Region, which eventually encompassed all of southern mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 1970, the Region became known as the Hong Kong Region when Taiwan became its own Region.

The first group of five Sisters arrived in Hong Kong on November 3, 1921. These Sisters were Mary Paul McKenna, Mary Lawrence Foley, Barbara Froehlich, Rose Leifels, Monica Moffat, and Imelda Sheridan. The Sisters studied the local language and began their mission work by opening schools and medical dispensaries.

Education was a focal point of the Sisters’ early mission work in Hong Kong. In 1925, the Sisters founded the Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. The Sisters then opened the Holy Spirit School in 1927 on Hong Kong Island. Holy Spirit School changed its name several times, beginning in 1951 when the name was changed to Maryknoll School. The name then changed in 1956 to the Maryknoll Secondary School and again in 1957 to the Maryknoll Sisters School. Operation of the school was transferred to the Columban Sisters in September 1978 and the school name was changed for the final time in 1983 to Marymount School. Both schools are still open and have very active alumni communities around the world.

The Sisters were also very involved in medical work in Hong Kong. In addition to the neighborhood dispensaries opened in the 1920s, the Sisters opened a larger clinic to serve the poor in 1940, but the clinic was closed during World War II. In 1955, the Sisters opened a new clinic to serve the resettled refugees who came to Hong Kong during and after the War, and by 1961 they operated four clinics across Hong Kong serving refugees and the poor. On August 16, 1961 the Sisters opened Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong providing inpatient and outpatient services. The Hospital became well-regarded by the community and in 1991 became a public hospital. The Hospital grew into a 200+bed facility providing inpatient, outpatient, and ambulatory services. Maryknoll Sisters continue to work at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital as pastoral care providers and hospital volunteers.

The Industrial Department in Hong Kong was created as a source of income for the Sisters. In 1924, Sr. Mary Paul observed other religious communities in mainland China sewing and embroidering church linens and vestments to be sold in the US and Europe. Sr. Mary Paul thought the Maryknoll Sisters could try to make vestments for sale too. She asked Teresa Yeung, a woman from Hong Kong who became a Maryknoll Sister in 1927, to be the first seamstress and embroiderer. Sr. Mary Liguori Quinlan was the first Industrial Department Director. Sr. Teresa oversaw the local girls hired by the Sisters as seamstresses and embroiderers, giving the girls an opportunity to earn a living. By the 1930s, the Sisters employed more than 80 workers in the Industrial Department. Vestments and other items were designed primarily by Sr. Mary Liguori and Sr. Frances Venard Lotito. The Industrial Department was very successful and closed upon Sr. Teresa’s death in 1971.

The Sisters faced numerous challenges to their mission work in Hong Kong, especially during World War II. In December 1941, the Japanese army invaded Hong Kong. In February 1942, those Sisters who were Allied citizens were interned in Stanley Prisoner of War Camp in Hong Kong. They were released a few months later. For the next three years, the Sisters’ mission work was divided between Hong Kong and Macau, helping refugees of the War through orphanages, soup kitchens, medical aid, and pastoral ministry. These ministries to the poor and refugees lasted in Macau until 1957 and in Hong Kong continued into the 1960s.

The Sisters continue their educational and pastoral missions in Hong Kong today. Over the years, they have operated several parish schools throughout Hong Kong and worked in diocesan pastoral centers and parishes teaching religion, English, healthcare practices, and community organizing methods. They have also worked in community welfare centers for students, the poor, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

On February 1, 1982, Sisters Dorothy Rubner and Arlene Trant began a new ministry in Macau, and the Hong Kong Region was renamed the Hong Kong/Macau Region. Sisters Dorothy and Arlene were followed by other Sisters, who worked with them in the Diocese of Macau’s pastoral offices and organized ministries for the elderly, immigrants, the deaf, and people with disabilities. These ministries helped people connect in new community groups, have Bible study and religious gatherings, find employment, and further their education. In 2021, the Sisters’ ministry in Macau was closed.

In February 2001, the Hong Kong/Macau Region was renamed the China Region.

Southern Mainland China, 1921-1952

As soon as the Sisters arrived in Hong Kong in 1921, they began mission work in southern mainland China. They worked in the Archdiocese of Canton (Guangzhou), Diocese of Kaying (Meixian), Diocese of Kongmoon (Jiangmen), Prefecture Apostolic of Kweilin (Guilin), Diocese of Shanghai, and Diocese of Wuchow (Wuzhou). From 1921 to 1970, the Sisters referred to all missions in southern mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as the South China Region.

At first, the Sisters focused on a direct apostolate in their mission locations. They would spend time with local women and children, telling them about Catholicism and dispensing medicine. Within ten years, the Sisters operated dispensaries, orphanages, and catechism schools. The Sisters also opened several native Novitiates for local Chinese women. The Sisters also worked in hospitals in southern mainland China in Toishan and Shanghai. By 1952, the Sisters had worked in more than 25 villages and cities in southern mainland China. In many of these missions, the Sisters worked closely with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.

After the Communist takeover of China, many Sisters were harassed, persecuted, arrested, and imprisoned by the Communist Party. It became too unsafe for the Sisters to continue their mission work in mainland China, so by the end of 1952, all Sisters’ missions in southern mainland China were closed.

North-East Mainland China, 1930-1948

In north-east mainland China, the Maryknoll Sisters operated within the Diocese of Fushun. These missions were part of the Korea-Manchuria Region from 1930 to 1940, and made up the Manchuria Region from 1940 to 1948.

The Sisters were assigned to Dairen (Dalian) in 1929 and arrived in the spring of 1930. The convent was opened on March 18, 1930 by Sisters Eunice Tolan, Angelica O’Leary, Gemma Shea, Juliana Bedier, and Mary Coronata Sheehan. Sisters Gemma and Juliana had previously worked with Japanese Americans in their American missions, and so immediately began mission work among the Japanese population of Dairen (Tenshudo Mission), while the other Sisters took Japanese language lessons. The Sisters found the most effective way of reaching the Japanese population was by connecting with women through the teaching of English to private pupils, which sometimes led to private religious instruction. In 1934, the Sisters also opened a mission in Dairen specifically for the city’s Chinese population. Not long after their arrival, the local people requested the Sisters open a school. Maryknoll Academy opened in September 1931 as a kindergarten and served all ethnic groups living in Dairen, including Japanese, Chinese, and European ex-pats. In 1936, Maryknoll Academy became affiliated with the Catholic University in Washington DC and had its first high school graduation in 1937.

The first house in Fushun opened on October 9, 1931. The Sisters were assigned to minister to the Chinese population of the city. These Sisters were Sisters Eunice Tolan, Gloria Wagner, Veronica Marie Carney, and Mary De Lellis McKenna. The Sisters took on mission works like a catechism school, a mission school for girls, an orphanage, an industrial school, a vestment-making department, a home for the elderly, a dispensary, and home-visit nursing care and religious instruction. The Sisters also began a native novitiate at the Ho Nan Mission, founding the Novitiate of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Fushun. Sister Veronica Marie was the Novitiate’s first Director. The Sisters also began missions in Fushun specifically for the city’s Japanese and Korean populations.

The Sisters also opened houses in Antung (Dandong) and Tung Hua (Tonghua) in north-east mainland China.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the declaration of war, the position of the Maryknoll Sisters in the Manchuria Region immediately changed. The Sisters, as well as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers stationed there, who were citizens of Allied nations were interned by Japanese troops. These Maryknollers were repatriated to the USA in 1943 on the MS Gripsholm. Five Sisters who were German, Japanese, and Korean citizens remained in Dairen throughout the War, running the Maryknoll Academy until the Soviets forced the school to close in 1947. In 1947, with the hope of continuing their mission, the Sisters reopened the Ho Nan Mission in Fushun. However, they decided to close it again in 1948 due to unrest.

China Task Force and Work in Mainland China, 1979-Present

The Tenth General Assembly of the Maryknoll Sisters in 1974 mandated that the Congregation undertake a China Study. In 1975 at the third Asian World Section meeting held in Kyoto, Japan, steps to begin carrying out this mandate were initiated, An Ad Hoc Committee formed and in Fall 1975 sent a questionnaire asking each of the Sisters’ regions to share information on their respective countries’ relations with China. The compiled information was presented to the Congregational Inter-Assembly Conference in 1976. Some options were presented but no further action was officially indicated.

At the Eleventh General Assembly in 1978, a resolution was passed “that we further study and plan for a possible Maryknoll Sisters’ presence in the People’s Republic of China.” It was mandated that the Hong Kong Region establish a task force to carry out this resolution because of its geographical proximity and communication with China. The China Task Force (CTF) was set up in early 1979 with the stated purpose “to participate in research on China and to provide guidelines for individual Sisters who might wish to respond to China’s reality by applying for professional positions in The People’s Republic of China.”

In 1979, the Chinese government began to allow foreigners to teach English in Chinese universities, which gave the Maryknoll Sisters an opportunity to return to mainland China. The Sisters were only allowed to teach secular subjects, and so could not act as traditional “missioners”. The CTF coordinated with those Sisters who wanted to teach in China to find teaching positions, complete necessary paperwork, develop relationships with Chinese universities and organizations, and to keep the Congregation informed on their work. These Sisters were members of the Hong Kong/Macau Region.

In 1982, Sr. Rose Bernadette Gallagher was the first Sister to return to mainland China, teaching English at Xi’an University. Since then, many Sisters have spent various periods of time teaching in Chinese universities – some just for one semester, some for a year or two, and some for many years. In July 1991, the name China Task Force was changed to China Coordinating Committee. In February 2001, the Hong Kong/Macau Region was renamed the China Region. In 2005, the China Coordinating Committee ceased its operations, and coordination of the Sisters’ work in mainland China came under the purview of the China Region.

Series 9: Diocese of Macau

Box 54

Folder 10: Annual House Reports, 1951-1957

Folder 11: Background, 1951, 1976, 1981, 1989

Folder 12: Correspondence, 1941-1945, 1951-1952, 1955-1957

Folder 13: Histories, 1981, 1992

Folder 14: Mission Stories, 1943

Folder 15: Reports, 1942, 1944-1945, 1981, 1985, 1989, undated

Sub-Series 1: Hac Sac Van Diocesan Pastoral Centre

Box 54

Folder 16: Agreements with Diocese, 1982, 1996

Folder 17: Correspondence, 1980-1983, 1988-1990, 1996

Folder 18: Planning, 1980-1981

Folder 19: Reports, 1984, 1988-1990, 1994, 2005