Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow, SJ, to Visit Diocese of Beijing, China, to Build Bridges

Bishop Chow to visit to the Diocese of Beijing

At the invitation of Bishop Joseph Li Shan of the Diocese of Beijing, Bishop Stephen Chow, SJ, of the Diocese of Hong Kong, along with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha, OFM and vicar general Father Peter Choy, will travel to the Diocese of Beijing for a five-day visit from 17th April. According to Bishop Chow, this visit underscores the mission of the Diocese of Hong Kong to be a bridge Church and promote exchanges and interactions between the two sides. The invitation was received sometime last year from the Diocese of Beijing and accepted in the spirit of brotherhood in the Lord toward the end of last year.
In addition to the three priests, the delegation will include the bishop’s personal assistant, Wong Ka-chun. The bishop requests his brothers, sisters and friends in Christ to pray for the success of the visit.
In 2018, the Vatican signed a provisional agreement, regarding the appointment of bishops, with China for two years, which was extended in 2020 and 2022.

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Hong Kong diocese, which covers the entire former British colony, is not a part of the patriotic or the underground church but operates directly under the direction of the pope and the Holy See. Hong Kong has approximately 400,000 Catholics with a population of about 7.4 million. China with a population of 1.42 billion has about 13 million Catholics (1 %), with 20 Archdioceses, 95 Dioceses, 29 Apostolic Prefectures, other religions include Taoism 73.56%, Buddhism 15.87%, Christianity 2.53%, Islam 0.45%, Other 7.60%. This estimate includes underground Catholics and those belonging to the Patriotic Catholic Church. (Stats Source: UCAN News)

 Source: https://catholic.org.hk/en/media-09032023/