Hong Kong’s top Catholic cleric calls for closer ties with mainland Chinese churches during Beijing trip
- Five-day visit by Bishop Stephen Chow marks first time local top Catholic cleric has made Beijing trip since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule
- Chow calls for more exchanges, cooperation and understanding between Hong Kong and mainland’s Catholic communities
Hong Kong’s top Catholic cleric has called for closer ties among the city’s diocese, local churches and their counterparts in mainland China during the fourth day of his historic trip to Beijing, which he hoped would not be his last.
Chow’s five-day trip marks the first time a senior Catholic cleric from Hong Kong has visited Beijing since the financial capital was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997.
The visit also came amid renewed tensions between the Vatican and Beijing over the latter’s recent unilateral decision to name a new bishop of Shanghai in an apparent breach of a bilateral pact.
Calling the Holy Spirit a God of unity rather than division, Chow expressed hope that both communities could welcome inclusion and testify to their shared beliefs.
