An analysis of how Francis's betrayal of the Church in China may effect the situation in Hong Kong.
From UCA News
By Massimo Introvigne of Bitter Winter
Pope Francis’s Choices “May Weigh Heavily On The Future Of Hong Kong”
The
Hong Kong protests are continuing. Some believe they may become the new
Tiananmen. Human rights activists speculate on how the U.S., and President
Donald Trump’s, attitude may determine the fate of the protest, or even fuel or
create opposition to President Xi Jinping within the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) itself.
Some
in Hong Kong, however, believe that the choices of a third world leader, in
addition to Trump and Xi, may weigh heavily on the future of Hong Kong.
This
leader is Pope Francis.
Catholics in Hong Kong amount only to 5 percent of the population,
but they carry a disproportionate power in politics, culture, and the
media. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, whose pro-CCP positions
sparked the protest, is herself an active Catholic, has been educated in
Catholic schools, and it is no secret that she regularly consults with
Catholic bishops on important political matters.
Hong
Kong is also a traditional bridge between the Vatican and China. According to
scholars of the Vatican-China relations, Hong Kong is where, until Pope Francis
took office in 2013, the strongest opposition to any Vatican agreement with the
CCP encouraging Catholic priests and bishops to join the government-controlled
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) was organized and successfully
managed, with the influence of anti-CCP Cardinal Joseph Zen (born in 1932 and
bishop of Hong Kong between 2002 and 2009) extending to Rome. Cardinal
Zen, according to the same scholars, had built a formidable team with fellow
member of the Salesian order, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-fai (born in Hong Kong
in 1950), the most influential Chinese prelate in the Roman Curia, where he
served since 2010 as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples, i.e. the Vatican department directly responsible for China.
Both
Cardinal Zen and Archbishop Ho had the ear of Pope Benedict XVI, and
effectively torpedoed any possible agreement under which Chinese Catholic
priests and Bishops would or should join the CPCA. They were supported by
Father, later archbishop, Ettore Balestrero, a top political officer in the
Vatican’s Secretariat of State, and a staunch opponent of the CCP.
In
2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned, and Pope Francis was elected. He indicated an
agreement with the Chinese government as one of his diplomatic priorities, at
the price of asking certain “sacrifices” from those anti-CCP Catholics who had
suffered for their (until then) Vatican-sanctioned refusal to join the CPCA.
People
matter, and in order to make an agreement with the CCP some people should go. Archbishop
Balestrero was so much a man of Pope Benedict XVI that he was sent as Vatican
ambassador (nuncio) to Colombia just before the German pope resigned, according
to Vatican sources to protect him for what may come under a new and differently
inclined pontiff.
The
same sources claim that the CCP expressed its pleasure to the Vatican that Archbishop
Balestrero was leaving Rome, inducing some to see the long arm of China behind
an obscure scandal involving the archbishop’s brother that led him to be
further demoted from nuncio to Colombia (an important country for the Catholic
Church) to nuncio to Congo in 2018.
Cardinal
Zen ended his term in 2009 and was replaced by Bishop, later Cardinal, John
Tong Hon (born in 1939). He is certainly less belligerent against the CCP than Cardinal
Zen, and (unlike his predecessor) not inclined to criticize the Vatican on any
issue.
Yet,
he has always been extremely cautious on matters concerning Mainland China.
That
the Vatican was moving very cautiously in Hong Kong was confirmed by the
appointment, in 2014, of two younger auxiliary bishops, one regarded as
anti-CCP, the Franciscan Joseph Ha Chi-shing (born 1959), and one as more
favorable to an agreement with China, Stephen Lee Bun-Sang (born 1956). Bishop Lee
is a member of Opus Dei and is regarded as theologically conservative, showing
that being liberal or conservative is not necessarily connected with being pro
or against the Vatican-China deal.
Things,
however, changed between 2016 and 2017, when certain decisions about the
Vatican-China deal of 2018 had probably already been taken in Rome.
Archbishop
Savio Hon Tai-fai was removed from the Vatican Curia in 2016 (another move for
which, according to inside sources, the CCP thanked the Holy See) and sent to
take care of the troubled Catholic Church in Guam, whose bishop had resigned
after having been involved in a sex abuse scandal. He was then sent to Greece
(not exactly a key country for the Vatican diplomacy) as a nuncio.
Also,
in 2016, Hong Kong’s auxiliary Bishop Lee Bun-Sang was promoted to bishop of
Macau, reportedly with the blessing of the CCP.
In
2017, Cardinal Tong’s term ended. He was replaced by Bishop Michael Yeung
(1945–2019). A close associate of Carrie Lam, it is difficult to dispel the
impression that he was appointed to promote the Vatican-China deal to be signed
in 2018. But he went too far and ended up embarrassing the Holy See, by first
giving the impression that he approved the CCP’s systematic destruction of
crosses of Protestant churches in China, and then claiming that his position on
the matter was that the CCP’s regulations should be respected. Proving, once
again, that one can be pro-CCP and at the same time theologically conservative,
Bishop Yeung also raised eyebrows in Rome for his militant attitude against
LGBT rights and for comparing homosexuality to drug addiction, something
perceived as at odds with Pope Francis’ more tolerant attitude on the matter.
On
Jan. 3, 2019, Bishop Yeung, who was suffering of cirrhosis of the liver, died
before his term as Bishop of Hong Kong expired. All eyes turned on Rome. There
were two natural candidates for the succession, and the choice would reveal how
the Vatican was assessing the deal it had signed with the CCP a few months
before. Clearly, the CCP would have been happier with the choice of the bishop
of Macau, Lee Bun-Sang, as the new bishop of Hong Kong — and much less happy if
the pope would pick up for the position auxiliary Bishop Ha Chi-shing, regarded
as anti-CCP. Pope Francis surprised everybody by appointing neither Bishop Lee
nor Bishop Ha, but calling out of retirement middle-of-the-road Cardinal Tong,
asking him to resume his old duties.
It
was thus Cardinal Tong who had to lead the Hong Kong Catholic Church through
the storm of the protests. He advised Catholic chief executive Carrie Lam
against signing the controversial extradition agreement with China, and
together with other religious leaders offered a moderate support to the protesters.
At the same time, he also let Hong Kong Catholics know that he did not support
Cardinal Zen’s vocal opposition to the Vatican-China deal. But he did not
prevent his auxiliary Bishop Ha Chi-shing from actively participating in the protests
and is even being regarded as one of its moral leaders.
The
Vatican has been silent on the Hong Kong protests. But clearly it should speak
sooner or later, not with words but through a momentous decision. Cardinal Tong
is 80. He made it clear he was accepting to return to his old position
provisionally.
Soon the pope should appoint a new bishop of Hong Kong.
Local
Catholics massively support the protests and make no secret that they expect
Bishop Ha to be appointed. They would regard an appointment of Macau’s Bishop
Lee as a statement against the protests and democracy. Some, however, told
Bitter Winter that rumors circulate that the Vatican-China deal of 2018, whose
text remains secret, may include a clause implying that the choice of the bishop
should be agreed upon between the Holy See and the CCP in Hong Kong as well.
Time
will tell, but clearly the appointment of Bishop Ha would be a signal to the
CCP and the world that the Vatican stands for democracy in Hong Kong, and the
2018 agreement does not mean that Rome is prepared to ignore human rights
issues.
The
appointment of Bishop Lee would be a different signal, although some caution
that the Opus Dei prelate of Macau is a complex personality and it would be a
mistake to categorize him as an unconditional supporter of the CCP, just as
Bishop Ha has never supported Cardinal Zen’s open criticism of the Vatican.
Unless Pope Francis will surprise everybody again by “inventing” a third
candidate —on which no hints or rumors circulate so far.
Massimo Introvigne is
an Italian sociologist of religions who is the founder and managing director of
the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR). He is the author of some 70
books and the editor-in-chief of online magazine Bitter Winter which focusses on religious liberty and human rights in
China.
This article is from the online magazine
Bitter
Winter.
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