The Bishop of Beijing makes a historic go to to Hong Kong amid tensions between China and the Vatican

HONG KONG – The pinnacle of China’s Catholic Church started a visit to Hong Kong on Tuesday on the invitation of the town’s pope-appointed Roman Catholic cardinal, marking the primary official go to by a Beijing bishop in historical past.

Joseph Li, who was appointed archbishop by China’s state-controlled Catholic Church, visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception within the morning, public broadcaster RTHK stated.

Lee’s five-day tour got here after the town’s newly appointed Cardinal Stephen Chow invited him to go to Hong Kong throughout a historic journey to Beijing in April – the primary go to to the Chinese language capital by a bishop of the town in almost three many years. Consultants stated the invitation was a symbolic gesture that would strengthen the delicate relationship between China and the Vatican.

Earlier this month, Zhao stated his job was to advertise higher communication between the 2 sides, and harassed the significance of human ties when requested in regards to the significance of Li’s go to.

The Diocese of Hong Kong stated Lee will meet with Chow and “varied diocesan places of work to reinforce exchanges and interactions between the 2 dioceses.” She added that that is the primary time {that a} bishop from Beijing has formally visited Hong Kong, with out revealing additional particulars about Li’s journey.

Lee participated in a night prayer in a small church on Monday and exchanged items with Chow, in line with the Sunday Examiner, a publication run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hong Kong. She added that Lee will go to instructional organizations and the Holy Spirit Faculty.

Beijing and the Vatican broke off diplomatic relations in 1951 after the Communist Celebration rose to energy and expelled international monks. Because the severing of ties, relations have been divided between those that belong to an official, state-sanctioned church and those that belong to an underground church loyal to the Pope. The Vatican acknowledges members of each as Catholics however claims the unique proper to decide on bishops.

The Vatican and China signed an settlement in 2018 on the thorny subject of bishops’ nominations, however Beijing violated the settlement. Lately, Pope Francis was compelled to just accept the unilateral appointment of a brand new bishop of Shanghai.

Francis insisted in September that the Vatican’s relations with China have been going effectively, however stated an effort nonetheless wanted to be made to indicate Beijing that the Catholic Church was not beholden to a international energy. Throughout his journey to Mongolia that month, he additionally despatched a particular greeting to the “noble” individuals of China, providing them a particular greeting on the finish of the mass.

The 2018 settlement was strongly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was arrested in Might final yr on suspicion of collusion with international forces underneath a nationwide safety regulation imposed by Beijing that has led to the imprisonment or silence of a number of activists. He has been launched on bail and has not but been formally charged, however he and 5 others have been fined in a separate case final November for failing to register a fund set as much as assist arrested protesters.