Father Gianni Criveller, PIME missionary and sinologist, recounts the climate in the metropolis, hit in recent years by the repression of the democratic movement and the pandemic. Albert Ho’s baptism by Cardinal Zen, the jail meeting with Lee Cheuk-yan and the new arrests in recent weeks. The positive balance of Bishop Chow’s trip to Beijing and the hopes for the future.
Milan () – A few weeks ago I spent two months in Hong Kong and found a city with two faces. On the one hand, it has finally emerged from the limitations imposed by the anti-covid measures, restrictions that caused the isolation of China and the world for two years, with enormous damage to the tourism industry and other sources of income. Now the city is recovering and shows its best side: a remarkable resilience that allows it to face serious difficulties, be they economic, social or political, without collapsing. I have perceived the spirit of recovery, of return to economic and social life, and I have admired the proverbial functionality of the city: efficient, safe and clean.
But there is a less reassuring face, the one that is emerging more and more after the urgent implementation of the national security law on July 1, 2020. Nearly 200,000 people have left the city. Many of them are families with school-age children who do not trust the patriotic education imposed, in various ways, in schools. Among those who leave the city, the percentage of teachers and Catholics is singularly high.
More than a thousand people are in jail for their involvement in the 2014 and 2019 pro-democracy movement. Thousands more are under investigation. We have verified that many democratic leaders come from the Christian world. Cardinal Joseph Zen visits them in prison, as he enthusiastically told Pope Francis during his meeting at Casa Santa Marta on January 6, the day after Pope Benedict’s funeral. On one of his visits to the prison, Cardinal Zen also baptized Albert Ho, a prominent democratic leader.
As is known, Cardinal Zen had also been arrested (but not imprisoned) and sentenced. To this day he is under investigation for ‘collusion with foreign forces’ and his passport has been withdrawn. To go to Rome they gave it to him for a few days and on the condition of not granting interviews.
Unfortunately, in March the arrests began again. One of them was that of Albert Ho, who had been released on bail for health reasons but was returned to prison. Along with him, many other people linked to the history of the union and the Hong Kong democracy movement were arrested and released on bail.
These arrests have caused great concern to many sincerely democratic people who had committed themselves to freedom and democracy in legitimate, nonviolent initiatives. And they have once again focused public attention on all those who are paying for their commitment to freedom with jail. Some of them, like Lee Cheuk-yan, have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. While he was in Hong Kong I went to visit him in jail. I met again with a friend who has all my admiration: he faces with courage, and I would even say with serenity, the years that his sentence imposes on him. He lives them with faith and even with a certain irony, perhaps to reassure his family and friends about his condition.
Some Catholics -among them Father Franco Mella, my PIME colleague- hope that the government decrees an amnesty. Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Chow also spoke about the imprisoned people in his Easter message, suggesting that, in view of the pacification of society, an act of clemency be performed towards them. The bishop deserves admiration for this courageous and unprecedented intervention, and above all it is to be hoped that the authorities take it seriously.
Monsignor Chow carried out an important trip to Beijing between April 17 and 21. The bishop was accompanied by his auxiliary, the Franciscan Joseph Ha, one of the vicars, Peter Choy, and the bishop’s secretary KC Wong, a well-known and respected layman in the Catholic community.
The trip was watched with great attention by many people because of the positive possibilities but also because of the pitfalls involved, such as the homologation of the Hong Kong church to China’s religious policy. We think the trip went well. Most of the initiatives and meetings took place within Catholic communities and structures. The formal invitation had been made by the Archbishop of Beijing Joseph Li Shan. On the other hand, this is the first significant initiative to introduce the new Hong Kong Catholic leadership in the context of the church in China and therefore also, in a way, as a possible point of contact with the Church of Rome, which presides over the Catholic Church.
The visit could only take place in the context of religious politics and its known limitations. In China, the authorities in charge of religious policy impose the formula that the faithful should “love their homeland and their religion.” Taking up this formula in Beijing and explaining it later when he returned to Hong Kong, Cardinal Chow certainly did not intend to approve the instrumental use made of this principle. He simply explained that loving the homeland and religion at the same time does not contradict Catholic doctrine. And – said Monsignor Chow – for my homeland means the people of our country.
We believe that the ample space given during the visit to the memory of Matteo Ricci, the missionary who introduced the faith to modern China through the path of friendship, cultural and scientific dialogue and welcome, was very encouraging. A prayer vigil for the beatification of Matteo Ricci was held at the Beijing cathedral. Hong Kong guests also visited his grave, located next to the graves of other missionaries at the Beijing Administrative College (at one time known as the ‘party school’). It is impressive how Matteo Ricci still unites two realities that often seem distant: the Catholic faith and the Chinese nation.
A few days ago, the top three leaders of the Hong Kong Catholic Church posted a lengthy speech, in Cantonese with English subtitles, on The Catholic Way YouTube channel. In this video they express their feelings directly, simply and obviously in solidarity after their trip to Beijing. Monsignor Chow expressed his gratitude for the welcome, attention and brotherhood that the Catholic community of Beijing gave him. Monsignor Joseph Ha cites the experience of discernment that they had sharing the different moments of life. He drew his attention to the relevance of Matteo Ricci’s teachings and how strong and alive the faith of the Chinese faithful he met in Beijing is. The vicar Peter Choy stresses that he has experienced a moment of synodality between the Churches and hopes that in China there will be an ever better inculturation of the Gospel, precisely on the basis of the teachings of Matteo Ricci.
We have been very impressed by the mutual understanding and unity of the three Hong Kong Catholic leaders. Being together in Beijing was a positive development that has allowed them to be comfortable with each other. It is to be hoped that the feeling of sister Churches in the ecclesial community of Hong Kong with Beijing and all the dioceses of China will grow.
Now that its authorities have returned to the city, it is to be hoped that they will not take away any space of freedom from the Church of Hong Kong and that the request for benevolence towards ‘political’ prisoners will be heard. And that the diocese of Hong Kong -as a sister Church- can support the path of the communities in China, for a greater ecclesial communion with the entire Catholic Church.
* PIME missionary and sinologist
