Ambiguity has been created in the way Hong Kong's pro-Beijing authorities use the national security law. This has sown "confusion over what could be said and what could not", says Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan (pictured).

Such a situation is an obstacle for those who want to heal society's wounds, he says.

In the interview, Chow calls on Hongkongers not to give up; rather, "Sit and watch the clouds rise," he advises. "It's time to discern instead of taking action."

"The difficulty of the national security law lies in not knowing where the red line is. Educators, social workers, and even legal professionals face barriers," the bishop says.

"Experts and law enforcers might have a different understanding [of the law].

"Everyone needed to know where the boundaries were so they would know how to express themselves".

With respect to how the crackdown following the 2019 anti-government protests divided Hong Kong's own Catholic community, Chow urges everyone to play a role in reconciling a deeply wounded society.

He says the Catholic Church is doing its bit and is not lying "flat" and doing nothing in the wake of the social unrest and introduction of the national security law, Chow reports.

"Its institutions and members increased support for young people in jail, by providing education and rehabilitation."

Calling for patience to heal the wounds of political divisions and deep distrust in society, Chow urges people to adjust their attitude towards others.

"Hong Kong's biggest crisis now is that different groups only think of their own interests," he says.

Healing "requires each of us to listen and communicate with each other".

Asked about relations with Beijing and the renewal of the Agreement with the Holy See on episcopal appointments, Chow says in the interview he hoped to visit the bishops of mainland China and establish ties.

The task entrusted to Hong Kong by John Paul II is to link China's Catholic community with the universal Church, he adds.

"We hope to have more chances to talk and listen. Don't worry about brainwashing, [which] implies that we are just brainless."

Chow finished saying arrangements made to meet Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu fell through after Lee fell ill with COVID.

"I hope he gained the spirit and breadth of mind in Wah Yan," Chow says. "I understand that he is subject to many political constraints, but it's good if he is willing to communicate."

Source

• Asia News

Give young people a reason to trust authority, Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong suggests in a special message published last Friday.

Among the advantages he lists is a greater sense of unity in a pluralistic Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's past 25 years as a Special Administrative Region "have been very challenging," he says.

At the same time he acknowledges "the goodness, generosity and resilience we have witnessed among the people of Hong Kong."

Chow also offered prayers for young people. He asked God to bless those struggling "with empathic understanding and meaningful support from the others".

He also prayed youth would be empowered by support allowing them "to have dreams again". He hoped they would be able to "make positive differences for their future and that of Hong Kong".

He closed pledging his faith in God and asking for God to bestow "abundant blessings on China and the Chinese People".

Since June 2020, hundreds of Hong Kong activists have been arrested in the crackdown. They include prominent Catholic figures like Cardinal Joseph Zen who is 90 years old..

In March Monsignor Javier Herrera-Corona, the Vatican's unofficial representative in Hong Kong, referenced a national security crackdown by Beijing on Hong Kong in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019.

He told the city's 50-odd Catholic missions the freedoms they had enjoyed for decades were over and warned missionary colleagues to protect their missions' property, files and funds.

"Change is coming, and you'd better be prepared," Corona warned the missionaries. One says in short Corona warned: "Hong Kong is not the great Catholic beachhead it was."

The Rev. Jonathan Aitken, a former UK Cabinet minister, says religious freedom in Hong Kong is "next on the hit list by the destructive forces" of Chinese President Xi Jinping's regime.

He says Xi and his regime are particularly hostile to faith groups.

China's crackdown on Christians on the mainland is leaving them facing the worst persecution since Mao's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Aitken claims.

He says persecution of Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and Hui Muslims has intensified. He also says China's persecution of Uyghurs is increasingly being recognised by international critics as genocide.

Source

• U.S. News
• Crux Now
• Crux Now