The leader of China’s Communist Party-sponsored version of the Catholic church will visit Hong Kong this month on the invitation of the town’s pope-appointed Roman Catholic cardinal, fostering dialogue as China-Vatican relations remain strained.
Joseph Li, the state-appointed archbishop of Beijing, will take a five-day trip to Hong Kong starting Nov. 14 on the invitation of the town’s newly appointed cardinal Stephen Chow, in line with a press release from the Hong Kong diocese.
Chow made the invitation during his landmark trip to Beijing in April — the primary visit to the Chinese capital by the town’s bishop in nearly three a long time — in a symbolic gesture that experts said could strengthen the delicate relationship between China and the Vatican.
During Li’s visit, he’ll meet with Chow and “different diocesan offices to advertise exchanges and interactions between the 2 dioceses,” the statement said, without elaborating.
Asked Saturday concerning the significance of Li’s visit, Chow said it was “essential that we’re connected. … every thing starts with a humanity first, not by structure, not by policy, but human connection.”
“With that connection, we will walk together, we will speak about tips on how to strengthen the structure, tips on how to make some policy, even when it comes to policy in the long run, (and) how would that help us to witness for the love of God. Now, I’m not saying this as a really abstract thing. Love is basically the treatment for quite a lot of problems on the earth today,” Chow said.
As a cardinal, Chow said his job is to foster higher communication between the perimeters.
“Sometimes, they’re really just misunderstandings” arising from one’s own assumptions, he said.
Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951 following the Communist Party’s rise to power and the expulsion of foreign priests. Thousands of Chinese priests and laypeople were thrown into jail and labor camps and sometimes persecuted to death. Since the break in ties, Catholics in China have been divided between those that belong to an official, state-sanctioned church and people in an underground church loyal to the pope. The Vatican recognizes members of each as Catholics but claims the exclusive right to decide on bishops.
The Vatican and China signed an accord in 2018 over the thorny issue of bishop nominations, but Beijing has violated it. Most recently Pope Francis was forced to simply accept the unilateral appointment of a latest bishop of Shanghai.
Francis in September insisted that the Vatican’s relations with China were going well but said work must still be done to point out Beijing that the Catholic Church isn’t beholden to a foreign power.
The 2018 agreement has been harshly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was detained in May last 12 months on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law that jailed or silenced many activists. He was released on bail and has yet to be formally charged, but he and five others were fined in a separate case last November for failing to register a now-defunct fund arrange to assist arrested protesters.
However, Zen was present at a Thanksgiving Mass on Saturday afternoon at which Chow presided in his role as bishop and received congratulations and best wishes from all members of the Hong Kong Catholic community, including those of Indian, Indonesian, Philippine, American and European origin.
Chow pledged to be a servant of all 401,000 Catholics, who make up roughly 16% of the territory’s population.
There was no immediate word on a possible visit by Li from the Communist Party-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, which formally represents the estimated 10 million Catholics on the mainland.
