ALEX LO
The new Anglican archbishop formally installed yesterday is expected to lose control of a secretive, billion-dollar fund under sweeping constitutional changes within the church.

The Bishop of Victoria Fund, the exact amount of which has never been made public but is estimated to run to billions, will be supervised by a private foundation to be set up within months.

The fund has been controversial because it was largely controlled by former bishop Peter Kwong Kong-kit, who became archbishop of the province of Hong Kong yesterday.

Archbishop Kwong will be appointed a foundation member.

"The foundation will oversee the fund. Its finance committee will be represented by various church officials and financial professionals," Bishop chaplain Chan Au-ming said.

But he declined to reveal how much the fund was worth.

"It's not a single fund but many funding channels, so it's hard to estimate exactly how much money we are talking about," he said.

The fund, financed by donations and earnings from investments and properties granted by the Government under preferential terms, is spent on the training and education of clergymen and various development and social work projects.

The Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau has been reorganised into three dioceses making up a single, independent province, the 38th and smallest in the world.

The province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui - the Cantonese translation of the Anglican Church - was formally inaugurated yesterday at a ceremony at the Convention Centre attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey.