Global Courant 2023-04-16 06:43:46
Hong Kong, China – The Bishop of Hong Kong Stephen Chow will make his first official visit to China on Monday, but is “unlikely” to meet representatives of the mainland’s “underground” churches, a spokesman said, too. amid ongoing tensions between Beijing and the Vatican. on the governance of the country’s Catholics.
Chow will be Hong Kong’s first bishop – the head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong and overseen by the Vatican – to make an official visit to the mainland since 1994.
According to a church statement, he will be accompanied by two senior church officials at the invitation of his Beijing counterpart, Joseph Li Shan.
Responding to questions from Al Jazeera, a spokesman for the communication office of the Catholic diocese in Hong Kong said Li, who took up the position two years ago, had been invited to the mainland in 2022.
But the trip only became possible when Beijing lifted travel restrictions for COVID-19 late last year.
The mission of the Hong Kong delegation is to “foster exchanges and interactions” between churches in mainland China and the global Catholic community, the spokesperson added.
The Vatican has long been at odds with Beijing over the Catholic Church in China, where the Communist Party is wary of mass organizations over which it has no direct control.
Chinese Catholics are divided between those who attend state-sanctioned churches and those who attend so-called ‘underground’ churches affiliated with the Vatican (File: Aly Song/Reuters)
Catholic churches in mainland China must register with and operate under the state-affiliated Catholic Patriotic Association, an organization overseen by the party’s United Work Front Department and headed by Li, who does not recognize the Vatican.
Professor Tobias Brandner, deputy director of the Divinity School at Chung Chi College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, described Chow’s journey as “overdue”.
“Twenty-nine years … is a long period of no (official) visits, which in itself can be unusual,” said Brandner, adding that there had been official visits from the Hong Kong Protestant Church during that time.
Religions must ‘adapt’
In March, China’s new premier Li Qiang told the National People’s Congress that the party should “actively guide religions to adapt to socialist society” and said the process was gradual.
Mainland churches that oppose government regulations usually secretly meet with those who run so-called “underground churches”, who risk fines and imprisonment.
Although Chow broached several issues during the trip, the spokesman said: “It is unlikely that he will visit Beijing’s so-called ‘underground churches’.”
According to the Chinese government, there are more than 5.5 million Catholics in the country. Organizations outside mainland China, such as the Pew Research Center and the Holy Spirit Study Center in Hong Kong, estimate the Catholic population to be closer to 10 million, taking into account those who do not attend the “official” churches.
While there are no formal diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Vatican, the two sides reached a tentative agreement in 2018 on the appointment of bishops in China.
The contents of the agreement have never been made public, but it reportedly allowed the Vatican to officially appoint bishops in China, while China has also recognized the pope as the Supreme Leader of the Catholic Church.
While the long lapse of time since a Hong Kong bishop’s last visit to the mainland could be explained by the pandemic, Brandner said Beijing opposes Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun, who led the Catholic Church in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009 and being outspoken in his criticism of Beijing’s efforts to control religion may also have been a factor.
Zen rejected the 2018 agreement and is also a prominent supporter of democracy. He was one of six people found guilty last November of failing to register an aid fund set up to provide legal aid to those arrested during the massive 2019 pro-democracy protests.
“Their mainland Chinese[counterparts]would not have received Zen as hospitably,” Brandner said.
While the invitation came from the Beijing diocese, rather than the Chinese government, Brandner said it would only amount to a “difference in ritual” given Li’s close ties to the government.
In total, there are estimated to be about 10 million Catholics in China (File: AFP)
The last visit in an official capacity was in 1994 when Cardinal John Wu Cheng-chung visited three cities in mainland China.
Mok Chit-wai, a commentator on religious affairs in Hong Kong, expects Chow’s trip to have more of a symbolic significance than an actual effect on Sino-Vatican ties.
In the current international climate, Mok said it would be to Beijing’s advantage to maintain working relations with the Vatican, which is a sovereign state in Europe.
“I am more inclined to say that Beijing wants to pass on certain messages to the Holy See through Hong Kong delegates. But which messages? I can’t tell,’ he said.
Mok also said relations between China and the Vatican remained tense despite the renewal of the 2018 agreement amid unresolved issues related to China’s Catholic faith, such as the appointment of bishops and the establishment of dioceses.
In November last year, the pope issued a statement expressing “surprise and regret” over the Chinese authorities’ decision to appoint Peng Weizhao auxiliary bishop of Jiangxi, a diocese that the Vatican does not recognize.
The Vatican’s statement said the appointment had “not been made in accordance with the spirit of dialogue that exists between the Vatican parties and the Chinese parties” and was against the Sino-Vatican agreement.
This month, Beijing announced a new bishop for Shanghai, the country’s largest Catholic diocese. The Vatican said the appointment was also made without his approval.
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