Elmer Wurth, M.M., one of the four founding fathers of Holy Spirit Study Centre, is a Maryknoll priest from the U.S. He received a BA in philosophy and an MA in Religious Education through Maryknoll Seminary. Later he received an MA in Latin and Greek from the Univ. of Michigan. After teaching in Maryknoll seminaries for four years, he received his first overseas assignment to Taiwan where he studied Mandarin and worked in the mountains with the aborigine people. This was followed by a 13-year assignment to vocation recruitment, fund-raising, public relations and mission animation.

       He arrived in Hong Kong in 1979 and immediately became associated with HSSC while doing parish ministry on weekends. After nine years of deep involvement with the Centre, doing some research and writing, with frequent trips to China, he became the pastor of St. Anne’s in Stanley, a multinational community of more than 50 nationalities. His pastoral ministry includes managing two schools and some involvement in prison visits. He has served the parish for 19 years and returns to the Centre for regular China meetings and does some research. His biggest project resulted in “Papal Documents Related to China, 1937 – 2005.”Part I covers the time of Pope Pius XI to John Paul I, while Part II is exclusively the writings of Pope John Paul II. The book was published shortly after the Pope’s death.