Beijing archbishop becomes first to visit Hong Kong since Chinese revolution

Courtney Mares   By Courtney Mares for CNA

November 14, 2023 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 1 Print

 

Archbishop Li Shan of Beijing, president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-managed Catholic organization in mainland China controlled by the CCP’s United Front Work Department. / Credit: Bundesministerium für Europa, Integration und Äusseres, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rome Newsroom, Nov 14, 2023 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

The archbishop of Beijing is visiting Hong Kong this week in a trip that marks a historic first since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) severed diplomatic relations with the Vatican 70 years ago.

Archbishop Li Shan is the president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-managed Catholic organization in mainland China controlled by the CCP’s United Front Work Department.

The Beijing bishop’s five-day visit to the Diocese of Hong Kong is at the invitation of Cardinal Stephen Chow, the city’s bishop, who has said that he sees Hong Kong as “a bridge Church” with the mainland.

Li was ordained archbishop of Beijing in 2007 with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI after being named to the post by Chinese authorities months prior. He was the first bishop to be consecrated in China following the publication of Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to Catholics in China.

Earlier this year, Li prayed for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China “as soon as possible” during a Mass at the diocesan seminary, according to the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

The Chinese bishop began his visit to Hong Kong on Monday night with vespers in the chapel of Hong Kong’s diocesan offices followed by an exchange of gifts.

Li presented Chow with a stained-glass image of Venerable Matteo Ricci, and Chow in return gifted a wood panel painting of Sts. Peter and Paul.

During his time in Hong Kong, Li will meet with staff from different diocesan offices to promote future exchanges between the Diocese of Hong Kong and the Archdiocese of Beijing.

The archbishop of Beijing will also visit Hong Kong’s Holy Spirit Seminary and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Chow told the Associated Press ahead of the visit that he believes that Li’s visit is significant because of the “human connection” it promotes. Chow visited Beijing in April, becoming the first bishop of Hong Kong to make an official visit to the Chinese capital in nearly 30 years.

“With that connection, we can walk together, we can talk about how to strengthen the structure, how to make some policy, even in terms of policy in the long term, (and) how would that help us to witness for the love of God. Now, I’m not saying this as a very abstract thing. Love is really the remedy for a lot of problems in the world today,” the bishop of Hong Kong said.

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Pope Francis to spend week recovering in hospital after intestinal surgery

July 5, 2021 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis attends a Prayer Meeting for Peace in Rome’s Piazza del Campidoglio Oct. 20, 2020. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2021 / 04:20 am (CNA).

Pope Francis is expected to spend the next week in hospital as he recovers from intestinal surgery, according to the Vatican.

“His Holiness Pope Francis is in good general condition, alert and breathing spontaneously,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists on July 5.

The pope underwent a surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on July 4 to relieve stricture of the colon caused by diverticulitis.

The surgery lasted for about three hours and included a hemicolectomy, which is the removal of the left part of the colon.

The procedure was carried out under general anesthesia. Dr. Sergio Alfieri performed the surgery with the assistance of nine other physicians.

Colonic stricture, also called stenosis, is a condition in which part of the large intestine becomes narrower than usual. It can become dangerous if it is too narrow to let food safely pass through.

Diverticulitis, a common condition that involves the formation of small bulges or sacs on the wall of the colon, can cause the stricture.

Recovery from diverticulitis surgery typically includes a hospital stay of up to a week and at least another two weeks of limited activity.

As of July 5, there are no major events scheduled on Pope Francis’ public calendar for the upcoming weeks. The pope traditionally suspends his general audiences during July.

At the age of 84, Pope Francis has only had one other operation during his eight years as pope. He last underwent an operation in 2019, for cataracts.

Earlier this year, the pope was forced to miss several public events due to a recurrence of the sciatic pain that struck him at the end of 2020. Francis has suffered from the painful condition for several years.

After his personal physician died from complications related to COVID-19 in January, Pope Francis appointed internalist Roberto Bernabei as his doctor.

Bernabei is a specialist in aging and director of the School of Specialization in Geriatrics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He was present in the surgical suite during the pope’s intestinal surgery in Gemelli hospital.

The Catholic hospital and medical school has treated other popes and Catholic figures, including John Paul II after he was shot in an assassination attempt and Mother Teresa, who was treated in the clinic’s cardiology department.


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