Hong Kong Church Leader to Brief Pope

Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic leader will make an official visit to the Vatican for the first time since the territory’s handover to Chinese rule to brief Pope John Paul II on political developments here, a newspaper reported today.

The church has been a frequent critic of Hong Kong’s government, and its leader, Bishop Joseph Zen, has supported recent protests demanding democracy in the former British colony.

Zen will reportedly discuss relations between China and the Holy See, and the local diocese’s role in Hong Kong’s fight for full democracy during a 30-minute meeting with the pontiff, the South China Morning Post reported.

China and the Vatican have no diplomatic ties and have long viewed one another with suspicion. Beijing outlaws mainland Catholic congregations that are loyal to the pope.

However, the Catholic Church practices freely in Hong Kong, which was guaranteed religious liberties for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover from British to Chinese sovereignty.

“The bishop will only discuss with the Holy Father what he believes is most important. But relations between the church and the state and democratic development will certainly, although briefly, be mentioned,” Lawrence Lee, a church spokesman in Hong Kong, was quoted as saying.

China angered Hong Kong people recently by rejecting their demands to elect their next leader in 2007 and all lawmakers in 2008. Zen, an outspoken critic of the Beijing and Hong Kong governments, has repeatedly pledged his support for universal suffrage.

Zen’s visit with the pope, expected by the end of the year, will be his first since he succeeded the late Cardinal John Baptist Wu as Hong Kong’s church leader in 2002. Wu’s final duty visit to the Vatican was in 1996.