Lo Pa-hong, Giuseppe

LO PA-HONG, GIUSEPPE. - Born in Shanghai on 27 March 1873, he passed the imperial examinations at the age of 18 and devoted himself to industrial and commercial activities. He later became general manager of the Shanghai Electricity and Water Company and general manager of the "Ta Tung" shipping company. Although he was a prominent figure in the local financial world, 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), the Sungkiang Hospital (1926), St. Joseph's College (1928), the Hospital of Mercy (1933), the Hospital of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1936) and the Sacred Heart Professional College for Women (1937), and in Beijing the central hospital (1918). He went personally 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 assist the missions, so as to merit 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 honor of knight of the Order of St. Gregory and commander of the Order of St. Sylvester, and was named, the first in China, honorary chamberlain of sword and cape. On the evening of 30 Dec. 1937 he was murdered by two unknown persons during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.

Stanislao Lokuang