Hong Kong’s Catholic community has been left fearing that certainly one of the important thing tenets of its faith is under threat after the passage of latest security laws last month.
Article 23 of the National Security Law makes “failing to reveal the commission of treason by others” a criminal offence punishable with lengthy prison sentences.
Human rights groups and members of the Church have expressed concerns that it may very well be used to pressure priests into revealing secrets shared under the Seal of the Confessional—which is taken into account inviolable and sacred in Catholic doctrine.
UK advocacy group Hong Kong Watch issued a letter warning of the threat posed by the laws within the lead-up to their passage through Hong Kong’s Legislative Assembly, claiming that it constituted a violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which upholds the religious freedoms and rights of people.
“For many non secular traditions, and particularly for the Catholic Church, the practice of what’s often known as the Sacrament of Penance (otherwise often known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is a non secular act of absolutely pivotal, sacrosanct importance,” the joint letter stated.
“At the guts of the Sacrament of Penance is the absolutely vital principle of confidentiality…a priest might encourage a penitent who has committed a serious crime to admit that crime to the authorities, the priest cannot report it himself and mustn’t ever be held criminally responsible for having heard that confession.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese government accused the group of being “anti-China”, and deliberately misrepresenting the law.
“The offences of treason and misprision of treason…don’t goal religious personnel or followers, and don’t have anything to do with freedom of faith,” the spokesperson said. “In any case, freedom of faith will not be for safeguarding anyone who has committed serious offences from legal sanctions.”
Despite the federal government’s denials, many priests fear that security forces will use the law to infringe on the sanctity of the confessional by threatening priests with imprisonment, sending agents into confessionals for the needs of entrapment, and even planting listening devices in churches.
Speaking to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, one priest described the brand new law as “like a knife above your head”. Other priests, chatting with the paper on the condition of anonymity, expressed fears in regards to the impact of the laws on their ability to serve the needs of their congregations and whether it will make it difficult to stay true to their mission to uphold the Gospel.
“For us true believers, we will not be scared, we only worry that individuals in need won’t be helped,” one other priest said.
“In reality, we will not be in a position to spread the entire gospel, we will not be allowed to talk the entire truth, we will not be free to warn our people in regards to the evil of communism and the harms it has done in history. What form of truth-bearers are we, if we don’t get up for the reality? That’s the predominant struggle.”
Responding to the brand new laws, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong issued an announcement stating that the laws wouldn’t “alter the confidential nature of Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation) of the Church”, while also saying that “residents have an obligation to make sure national security”.
This has left many Catholics calling on the Church to take a firmer line in denouncing the brand new laws, with Hong Kong Watch warning that it amounts to a crackdown on religion in Hong Kong by stealth, motivated by the very fact many Catholic believers hold pro-democracy convictions.
“Instead of a physical crackdown on religion in Hong Kong, the authorities’ aim is to create an environment through which religious leaders and practitioners feel obligated to self-censor, compromise and kowtow, so as to protect the essential freedom of worship that they enjoy,” it said.
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