Catholic Church leaders and social service workers in Hong Kong are responding to the trauma caused by a deadly residential fire in Tai Po through prayer, listening, and coordinated psychosocial care.
“Sometimes when we suffer, we don’t know how to express it in words, but our bodies speak through symptoms of trauma,” said Cardinal Stephen Chow in a report by Sunday Examiner, the official news service of the Diocese of Hong Kong.
Cardinal Chow said the psychological impact of the Nov. 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court may remain unrecognised among survivors and others affected by the tragedy.
The Mass for the parish’s English-speaking community was followed by a sharing session with Catholic medical practitioners and social workers from Caritas Hong Kong, who are preparing support programmes to address emotional and psychological needs.
On Nov. 30, Cardinal Chow also visited the Chinese-speaking community in Tai Po to listen to concerns.
According to parish secretary Polly Chan, at least nine active parishioners died in the fire. “Among them were two elderly women in their seventies, a family of two, a pianist who frequently served at parish Masses, two individuals in their thirties, and two foreign domestic workers.”
After an English Mass for migrants, Cardinal Chow, parish priest Father Jean Sylvere Mbuela Pfuti, medical practitioners, and Caritas social workers listened to testimonies from survivors and parishioners.
One survivor, Jonalyn Buran, a domestic worker living at Wang Fuk Court, said she and the 94-year-old woman she cares for were alerted to the fire by a family member in Canada who saw news coverage.
She said she gathered essential items and chose to take the lift rather than the stairs because the elderly woman could not descend quickly from the 23rd floor. Flames reached their building within 10 to 15 minutes. “What if I had taken the stairs?” she recalled.
Jonalyn said she now suffers from anxiety and sleeplessness and sought hospital care. She said trauma is often misunderstood when survivors are seen as “lucky.” The elderly woman she looks after continues to weep when recalling the incident. Both are staying in temporary accommodation.
Other migrants and local residents also shared distress during the one-hour session. One Filipino worker said the fire resurfaced memories of a devastating typhoon in her home country that had left her family with nothing.
Caritas social worker Chan Wai-leung said the organisation plans to launch a one-stop support service in Tai Po, combining medical and psychosocial care, with plans to expand to other districts.
Caritas has also set up a hotline at 9688 7760, with support available in Indonesian, including through WhatsApp.
Sister Victoria Victorino, assistant director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Filipinos, said three migrant survivors sought help from the centre and joined debriefing sessions with about 30 others, organised by the Philippine Consulate and supported by groups including the Red Cross and volunteer psychologists.
She said many survivors showed symptoms such as trembling and insomnia while continuing to work under difficult conditions, and that distress was worsened by people treating the fire site as a “photo-taking spot.”
“It is precisely in times of trial that the Lord reveals himself,” she said. “God does not want what happened, and he will not leave us alone.”
