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What can Hong Kong Catholics learn from the past 20 years?

The church's path since the handover to China
What can Hong Kong Catholics learn from the past 20 years?

Protesters led by Hong Kong's Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen march through the streets of Hong Kong, July 1, 2007. Thousands of people took part in the protest in Hong Kong to call for universal suffrage as the territory marked the first 10 years of Chinese rule. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP)

Published: June 30, 2017 09:14 AM GMT
Updated: June 30, 2017 09:14 AM GMT

Hong Kong, a city with a high degree of freedom but without complete democratic institutions, was handed back from Britain to China 20 years ago.

During the colonial era, Catholic missionaries and the local diocese filled the gaps of government responsibility in its provisions of social services and welfare.

The impacts were twofold.

First, the church, which today has 389,000 Catholics among a population of 7 million, became a social buffer between the government and local people.

Second, the church and the colonial government eventually became collaborators in governance. The government provided subsidies to the church which shared the former's social functions, while the church also expanded evangelization work with government-supported services.

Although there were Catholic groups playing a critical role over social policies and political legitimacy of the colonial government, such collaborations were not affected.

A delicate change appeared after the handover in 1997. The collaboration with the Special Administrative Region (SAR) government continues, but tensions between the state's attempts at social control and the church's advocacy on human rights increased tensions and uncertainties about their relationship as shown in a few major critical events.

 

 

A file image of the then Hong Kong governor, Chris Patten (right) accepting a religious icon from Father John Tsang during a Mass at the Caritas Catholic Church on June 29, 1997. The Mass was Patten's last as Governor of Hong Kong as the colony reverted to Chinese rule at the stroke of midnight June 30. (Photo by David Gray/AFP)

 

Protecting civil rights

In 1999, leaders of the diocese took a strong position against the first interpretation of Basic Law over the right of abode of new immigrants from mainland China whose parents were Hong Kong citizens. The then Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Zen openly defended the new immigrants, who were eligible to come to the city for family reunion purposes.  

Facing an interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which deprived their rights, and the collective fear over the perceived boom of mainland migrants, Cardinal John Baptist Wu issued a pastoral letter criticizing the interpretation and urged for social inclusion of those affected.

Two years later, the controversy extended to the rights to education among children who no longer had right of abode after the Basic Law interpretation. While the government insisted that those children were not eligible to go to schools, Bishop Zen appealed to Catholic schools to accept them. The government finally agreed to recognize their rights the following year.

Apart from ecclesial leadership, the laity also engaged in the movement, including the diocesan Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) and the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students. In sum, the local church acted as a moral authority and social conscience in this event, despite mainstream opinion not welcoming the new arrivals from the mainland out of fear over the distribution of social resources. 

 

Defending ecclesial and societal autonomy

The controversies over the national security law were one of the major conflicts between the SAR government and the diocese. Just a month after Joseph Zen became the new Bishop of Hong Kong in September 2002, the government commenced consultation over the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, and aroused worries and discontent among various sectors including the press, churches and human rights organizations.

Apart from worrying about potential abuses of freedom of speech and public assembly under the bill, the diocese had particular concern over the prohibition of connection with foreign organizations, which might harm its linkage with the Holy See. Religious freedom would also be at risk.

In solidarity with other Protestant and civil groups, Cardinal Zen actively spoke at public forums and seminars and lay people were mobilized to protest against the legislation at the end of 2002. More than half a million citizens joined a rally against the legislation on July 1 the following year, with nearly 10,000 Christians attending a prayer meeting before it. The legislation was finally withdrawn, and the responsible official resigned after. 

Cardinal Zen became a popular figure in defending civil liberties in Hong Kong after the event, although some conservatives would say that his public engagements were crossing the boundary between politics and religion.

 

A file image of Chinese Cardinal of the Catholic Church and former bishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun (center) taking part in a protest over religious freedom in mainland China, in Hong Kong on July 11, 2012. The demonstrators were staging the protest following reports of the disappearance of a Chinese bishop and a priest on the mainland. (Photo by Philippe Lopez/AFP)

 

Promoting democratization

The role of the diocese over democratization in Hong Kong is ambivalent with a progressive character. Formally speaking, the diocese has been embedded into the political system of Hong Kong since the handover. The methods of electing the city's chief executive and all legislators have long been criticized as undemocratic and partisan to the interests of Beijing and capitalists. The election committee, which is designed for electing the chief executive, includes 60 seats shared by six religions, including the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, in the sub-sector for "religion."

The diocese has disagreed with the set up ever since the consultation period of the Basic Law, stating that it would unavoidably exclude other religions and be unfair to local people with no religious background. Although the diocese has not given up or returned this "political privilege" to the government, it has adopted an approach of "passive arrangement." It means the diocese not involving itself in the election process for the seats except validating the Catholic identity of the candidates, and submitting the applications for the government to cast lots to fill the given 10 seats.

Engaging the diocese in the electoral system is probably a state strategy to penetrate religions to build a "united front." The passive line taken by the diocese illustrates its unwillingness to fully cooperate with the authorities.

Rather, the leaders and official units of the diocese have never ceased to promote democratization after the handover. There was a diocesan priest permitted to engage in a scholarly network promoting democracy and civic education (Democracy Development Network); the JPC actively works with other petition groups in mobilizing peaceful and non-violent assemblies, such as prayer meetings before the annual July 1 demonstration and the June 4th commemoration vigil.

They have also organized myriads of seminars and workshops on civil rights and democracy in parishes to deepen the understanding of faith and social awareness among the laity.

Most importantly, Hong Kong bishops hold supportive attitudes and responses towards democratization, though expressing it via different approaches.

Cardinal Zen, bishop of Hong Kong between 2002 and 2009, engaged in a number of major political events and often expresses his support for universal suffrage even after his retirement.

In 2005, he opposed a political reform proposal without a roadmap for democratization, and urged legislators to veto it. In 2010, the cardinal supported the notion that a by-election for the Legislative Council was a de facto referendum for true democracy. Before a civic referendum in 2014, he led a seven-day "Walk for Democracy" to walk through different districts to promote the action.

Cardinal Zen's support of the Occupy Central protest also drove him to surrender to police alongside the leaders of the civil disobedience movement. However, it is clear that Cardinal Zen's engagements in those events, from his words, are pastoral action rather than political action. It is pastoral because his words and deeds follow Gospel values and Catholic social teachings.

In a less progressive style, Cardinal John Tong, who succeeded Cardinal Zen in 2009, also expresses his support for democratic reform via statements or proposals to the government and urging genuine dialogue between the government and society. All in all, ecclesial leadership plays a crucial role in positioning the diocese as a supporter of democracy.

 


A file image of the then new head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, Cardinal John Tong, meeting the press in Hong Kong on April 16, 2009. (Photo by AFP)

 

Tension increases in political development

The church-government collaboration continues to the present day but the contentious engagement of the church in political development has been increasing under the expanding political and social control of the local and central governments.

Despite the small Catholic population in the city, the church's role in local politics is certainly influential, and it has often received criticism from the pro-establishment camp.

However, it does not mean the diocese is unreservedly supporting democratization, which is the most sensitive political controversy between Hong Kong and Beijing.

Its passive arrangement towards the election committee implies their difficulty in confronting political authority on the one hand, while upholding their social and political values according to Catholic social teachings. The extent of the church's engagement in the democratic movement depends on the political agency of the bishop at the time as well.

Yan-ho Lai is a Catholic university researcher and lecturer in Hong Kong. His research interests are civil society, social movement and democratization. 

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