LO PA-HONG, GIUSEPPE. - Born in Shanghai on 27 March 1873, he passed the imperial examinations at the age of eighteen and devoted himself to industrial and commercial activities. He later became general director of the Shanghai Electricity and Water Company and general director of the “Ta Tung” Navigation Company. Although he was an eminent figure in local finance, as a convinced Catholic he reserved his best energies for works of charity and education.
In Shanghai he founded St. Joseph’s Hospital (1912), the diocesan section of Catholic Action (1913), the Sacred Heart Hospital (1924), Sungkiang Hospital (1926), St. Joseph’s College (1928), Mercy Hospital (1933), the Immaculate Heart of Mary Hospital (1936), and the Sacred Heart Women’s Vocational College (1937); and in Peking, the Central Hospital (1918). He personally went to teach catechism to the poor and to prisoners, especially those condemned to death. He was general president of Catholic Action in China, and worked tirelessly to aid the missions, thus earning the title of the Chinese Cottolengo. He received Communion every day and ordinarily served two Masses before beginning his work. He was decorated by the Holy See with the honour of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory and Commander of the Order of St. Sylvester, and was the first in China to be appointed honorary canon of sword and cappa. On the evening of 30 December 1937, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, he was assassinated by two unknown persons.