HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s prime Catholic cleric is because of arrive in Beijing on Monday on the primary go to to the Chinese capital by a bishop of the previous British colony in practically 30 years, regardless of indicators of recent Sino-Vatican rigidity.
The go to by Bishop Stephen Chow and a number of other of his senior monks on the invitation of Bishop of Beijing Joseph Li Shan comes weeks after the Vatican introduced that China had unilaterally put in a brand new bishop to Shanghai, an appointment that took the Vatican without warning.
The Vatican mentioned it was knowledgeable of the choice only a few days earlier than the Chinese announcement, and has beforehand accused China of violating a bilateral accord, renewed final October, over the appointment of bishops.
The deal struck in 2018 was a bid to ease a longstanding divide amongst mainland China’s roughly 12 million Catholics between an underground Church that swears loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
For the primary time for the reason that Fifties, either side acknowledged the pope as supreme chief of the Catholic Church.
In a press release to Reuters forward of his five-day journey, Chow – who was appointed by the pope – mentioned he hoped to “promote exchanges and interactions” between the mainland and the broader Church, particularly with Asia.
When requested if he was carrying any message for his hosts from the Vatican, Chow, by a spokesperson, mentioned: “This is an exchange of visits between dioceses. Mainland China has established liaison with the Vatican on state affairs.”
China’s National Religious Affairs Administration and its state-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association didn’t instantly reply to requests from Reuters for remark.
Vatican officers have mentioned the 2018 deal, the main points of which haven’t been disclosed, doesn’t apply to Hong Kong given the “one country, two systems” association that secured its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Freedom of spiritual perception and worship is detailed in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, referred to as the Basic Law, which has ruled the town’s standing as a Special Administrative Region of China since Britain handed it over in 1997.
Some Hong Kong monks and Catholics concern Chinese authorities are steadily tightening management over the church within the metropolis of simply over 7 million folks, about 400,000 of whom are Catholic, partially by the expansion of exchanges between senior clerics.
Chow didn’t rule out elevating these considerations together with his mainland counterparts.
“It is possible to touch on different religious or other concerns. Up to now, there is no restriction in religious freedom in Hong Kong per se,” he mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong authorities’s house affairs bureau mentioned spiritual freedom was protected below the Basic Law and the authorities kept away from interfering with spiritual our bodies if their actions have been lawful.
“Hong Kong is an open and inclusive city, characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs,” the spokesperson mentioned.
Pope Francis named Chow as bishop of Hong Kong in May 2021 – a long-delayed appointment amid rising Western concern over human rights and freedoms within the Asian monetary hub. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
