Pope Paul VI Is the only Pope to Have Visited Hong Kong

On June 21, 1963, Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini was elected Bishop of Rome, thereby becoming the head of the Catholic Church, more commonly known as the Pope, under the name Paul VI.

Seven years later, Pope Paul VI embarked on his longest—and last—international trip to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Among the cities he visited was the then British colony of Hong Kong.

On December 4, 1970, Pope Paul VI landed at Kai Tak Airport. Moments later, he arrived at Government Stadium, known today as Hong Kong Stadium, in Causeway Bay, where he held a Mass in front of 40,000 people, even though the stadium, at the time, had a capacity of only 28,000.

Although he spent only three hours in Hong Kong, as of 2026, Pope Paul VI’s visit to Hong Kong in December 1970 remains the first, last, and only visit by a Catholic Pope to Hong Kong.

As of 2026, there is still a Roman Catholic girls’ secondary school named after Pope Paul VI in Kwai Chung, in the Kwai Tsing District. Although classes started in July 1969, the school moved to its permanent building in August 1970, four months before the Pope’s visit.