Marco Carvalho
Born in Macau, Father Stephen Tong will assume the role of Provincial of the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus on November 1st, succeeding the Bishop-elect of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow. “A man of intelligence and good reasoning,” Tong Chak-long faces a delicate and challenging mission, fellow Jesuít Luís Sequeira told O Clarim.
Father Stephen Tong Chak-long, a native of Macau, was appointed earlier this week by Arturo Sosa, Superior-general of the Society of Jesus, as the new head of the Chinese province of the Jesuits. Currently the director of the Saint Francis Xavier Spirituality Centre, located on the island of Cheung Chau, Father Tong succeeds the bishop-elect of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow, starting from November 1st.
The appointment was made public by the current Provincial, in a letter sent to the Jesuit missionaries of the Chinese province, a region that encompasses the People’s Republic of China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In his message, Father Chow thanked Stephen Ting for his willingness to take on a mission he considers “challenging”: “We thank our Lord for giving us a new Provincial through the appointment of Father General. And we should give thanks to Father Stephen Tong for his generous availability for this arduous and challenging mission,” the Bishop-elect of Hong Kong wrote.
In the same letter, Father Chow asks his companions from the Chinese province of the Society of Jesus to endorse their “ardent support and closest cooperation” to Father Stephen Tong, so that the mission of the Jesuits in east Asia may be as fruitful as possible.
The appointment of Father Stephen Tong, born and raised in Macau in a non-Catholic family, was greeted with undeniable joy by his former companions in Macau. The nomination of Stephen Tong Chak-long matches the delicacy of the mission that awaits the new head of the Chinese province of the Society of Jesus, Father Luís Sequeira told O Clarim: “It is a great joy to see a companion being asked to take on such a responsibility. Father Stephen Tong’s qualities grew little by little until he took on this mission. In addition to being extremely important at the moment, it is also an extremely delicate mission, given the context in which we are living. It makes me even happier because I helped him discern his vocation, I helped him join the Society,” the former Superior of the Jesuits in Macau recalls. “Humanly speaking, I would say that Father Stephen Tong is intelligent, well-mannered and he is very capable in terms of leadership. Moreover, I would say that, lately, I have noticed in him a great capacity to grow a profound attitude of discernment, together with a pragmatism that allows him to act in challenging situations. Over the past few years, he has been the director of the Saint Francis Xavier Spirituality Centre, the sort of experience that continually obliged him to be in touch with our spirituality, our specificity as Jesuits,” the Portuguese Jesuit added.
Born in Macau, Father Stephen Tong is the youngest of five brothers of a non-Catholic family. The new provincial of the Chinese province of the Society of Jesus completed his secondary education in Macau, before moving in 1981 to Taiwan, where he studied civil engineering. Upon completion of his higher education, Tong Chak-long followed his older sister’s example and began to consider a religious career. Stephen Tong joined the Society of Jesus in 1990.Father Tong entered the novitiate in Singapore and studied philosophy in Manila, followed by two years of regency, during which he taught at Escola Estrela do Mar. In 1996, he began his theology studies at Holy Spirit Seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1999. Stephen Tong spent the next two years in Boston, where he earned a degree in theology. He was ordained a priest in Macau on June 24th, 2000 and was later sent to Manila for his first priestly mission as the director of pre-novitiate. Since then, his ministry has been connected with the Ignatian sense of spirituality, namely as the director of Hong Kong’s St. Francis Xavier Spirituality Center.
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