St. Francis of Assisi Church, Catholic church in Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong.
St. Francis of Assisi Church is a Catholic church at 58 Shek Kip Mei Street, inside the grounds of St. Francis of Assisi's English Primary School. It was designed by architect Chin Nai-yan and opened on 21 October 1956, consecrated by Bishop Lorenzo Bianchi. Round arches recur throughout: in the side-wall windows and the two side altars. A spiral staircase flanks each side of the narthex, and a statue of St. Francis faces the wooden door from the first floor.
The parish traces its origin to St. Francis Xavier's Church in Kowloon City, built in the 1860s for missionaries travelling to and from mainland China. In 1930 the colonial government exchanged the site for land needed to expand Kai Tak Airport, and the church was renamed St. Francis of Assisi of the Five Wounds. Japanese occupying forces demolished it in 1943 to extend the airport. After the 1953 Shek Kip Mei fire left over 50,000 squatters homeless, the diocese built a new church near the resettlement estates, designed by architect Chin Nai-yan and consecrated by Bishop Lorenzo Bianchi on 21 October 1956; it took its present name in 1966.
The church name recalls St. Francis Xavier, the 16th-century Jesuit who brought Catholicism to Southeast Asia; the original Kowloon City chapel was dedicated to him. In 1930 the Gomes family, donors of the church, renamed it after St. Francis of the Stigmata in memory of their ancestor. The present name, St. Francis of Assisi Church, dates from 1966. Masses are held in Cantonese.
The church stands at 58 Shek Kip Mei Street, inside the grounds of St. Francis of Assisi's English Primary School, so access is through the school site. Masses are held in Cantonese: Sundays at 07:30, 09:30 and 11:00, Saturdays at 19:00, and weekdays at 07:00. Visitors should time a visit around these services.
The church stands inside the grounds of St. Francis of Assisi's English Primary School on Shek Kip Mei Street, so its address is shared with the school. A spiral staircase flanks each side of the entrance hall, and a statue of St. Francis faces the wooden church door from the first floor.
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