It gives me great pleasure to be with you this evening at your Annual General Meeting. I whole-heartedly thank you for your contribution to the family welfare of the Diocese and of the community of Hong Kong. The staff and volunteers of your Council have been working tirelessly to prepare the young people for the vocation of married life, and, to help couples overcome difficulties they may face in living out their life-long commitment they made to one another on their wedding day. Many people have benefitted and are benefitting from your services, especially in learning how to maintain healthy family dialogue and renewing family bonds among their members. 

The importance of effective family dialogue is never over stated. If family members learn to listen, be empathic and express in the process of dialogue, through which they can form common opinions and/or allowing the emergence of different ideas about the family and social issues, family dialogue can become the building block of a harmonious family and lasting relationships. Other than the family, this kind of dialogue is much needed in the present world where social bonds and empathy among citizens often give way to discrimination, mutual rejection favoring cultural intolerance. 

In Hong Kong, there is a growing fear towards loneliness. It can be felt among various age groups. It is quite common among the elderly left behind by their children and relatives migrated to other countries. It is also common among the married, widowed, divorced and separated adults. However, at times the desire for family stability and fidelity was taken over by the fear of entrapment in a kind of family relationships that hamper the achievement of one’s personal goals. 

In 2024, there were 993,900 women and 942,300 men in the “never married” category in Hong Kong with a population of 7.5 million, according to the latest census report.1 Last year, the total number of marriages compared with the previous year had fallen by 7.4%. All in all, only 3.9 million residents were married in Hong Kong while the divorce rate in Hong Kong has been on the increase in all these years. In short, there is a clear sign of weakening family bonds and commitments in our family system. 

Although Hong Kong has come under the impact of other cultures that over the years have changed both positively but also negatively the mentality towards the family, the HKCMAC has focused its services not only on marriage counseling and problem solving. Until today, you continued to offer a vision of happy family life which has found much resonance among the local audience.  

HKCMAC has a very important mission today to uphold the sacred bond of marriage and to teach the younger generation the truth about God’s plan for the family. I congratulate HKCMAC for its wonderful service to the people of Hong Kong. May God bless all the staff, volunteers and the people served by you for your wonderful work. Thank you! 

Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J. 

Bishop of Hong Kong 

Speech given on 20 November 2025 

^{* The English translation is prepared by HKCMAC for reference purposes.}