Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Before leaving his six-year tenure in March, Monsignor Javier Herrera-Corona, the unofficial envoy of the...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Before leaving his six-year tenure in March, Monsignor Javier Herrera-Corona, the unofficial envoy of the Vatican in Hong Kong, sent a sobering message to the city's 50 or so Catholic missions: the liberties they had long enjoyed were gone.
According to four people familiar with the private sessions, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, the 54-year-old Mexican prelate advised Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong to get ready for a tougher future as China tightens its control over the city. He also urged his colleagues to protect their missions' property, files, and funds.
According to one of the persons, who told Reuters he was summarising the monsignor's advice: "Hong Kong is not the huge Catholic beachhead it was," Herrera-Corona cautioned the missionaries: "Change is coming, and you'd better be prepared."
In response to anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing launched a national security crackdown on Hong Kong, which resulted in the erosion of civil liberties, the detention of numerous pro-democracy activists, and concerns over potential threats to the independence of the local judiciary. Herrera-message Corona's was delivered during this time.
However, the sources claimed that Herrera-worries Corona's went beyond the current national security crackdown and warned that future integration with China may result in limitations on religious organisations like to those found on the Chinese mainland.
Catholics on the mainland have long been split between a state-backed official church and an underground church that is dedicated to the Vatican. Apart from two unofficial envoys in Hong Kong who work out of a gated home in a Kowloon suburb, the Vatican has no official representation in China since diplomatic relations were severed in 1951. The person who will take over as the leader of that unofficial mission in the coming month will replace Herrera-Corona.
Herrera-Corona and other envoys at the unofficial mission in the city began covertly moving cases of archives overseas for safekeeping before China imposed a broad national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 that outlawed "collusion with foreign forces" in response to the pro-democracy protests the year prior, according to two people familiar with the transfer.
There hasn't been any prior information about the monsignor's cautions in the four sessions or the specifics of the archive transfer.
Inquiries about the meetings and the measures taken to safeguard the private documents were not answered by Herrera-Corona, who was promoted to archbishop after departing Hong Kong in March to accept a new position in the Republic of Congo and Gabon. A Vatican representative remained silent.
Requests for comment were not answered by the State Administration of Religious Affairs under the State Council in Beijing or the Central Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
Chinese bishops educated prominent Hong Kong priests on President Xi Jinping's vision of religion with "Chinese features" at an event organised by Beijing's Liaison Office, according to a December report from Reuters.
Xi on Friday defended the city's "one country, two systems" system of government, which provides it a wide range of autonomy not seen in mainland China and includes journalistic and religious freedoms, while on a visit there to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its transfer to Chinese sovereignty. He stated that the system "must be sustained for the long run."
Foreign missionary organisations have worked relatively unhindered in the former British colony for decades, creating a Catholic enclave on the outskirts of atheist-run mainland China.
The missionary groups in Hong Kong work closely with the regional Catholic church and follow Vatican directives; they are frequently funded and directed from other nations. They prioritise initiatives like eradicating poverty and promoting education.
Some people also keep tight relationships to Catholics on the mainland, where religious activity is strictly regulated and the work of foreign missions is still severely constrained by law, reflecting the government's steadfast opposition to outside meddling in Chinese affairs.
RIGHTS IN DANGER
According to the four people with knowledge of the situation, the monsignor warned attendees of the meetings that mounting pressure from Beijing made it impossible to rely on the rights of religious institutions set forth in Hong Kong's Basic Law, a mini-constitution that has governed the city's relationship with its Chinese ruler since the handover from British rule in 1997.
The people said that Herrera-Corona stated he was unaware of any specific policy changes.
The government is prohibited from limiting religious freedom or interfering with religious organisations, according to the Basic Law. Their rights to their property, to their charity contributions, and to "keep and develop their contacts with religious organisations and believers outside" are likewise protected.
Three Catholic clergymen with knowledge of the incident claimed that when the Vatican envoys started moving the archives in 2019, they were concerned that China's state security apparatus was closely monitoring their operation. Two nuns who worked at the mission were detained on the mainland, according to a Reuters investigation published in late 2020 https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/hongkong-security-church, as Beijing attempted to tighten its control over the church in Hong Kong. Their detention's specific cause is still unknown.
By the time they were done, more than half a tonne of documents regarding the Catholic church's operations in Hong Kong and mainland China had been transported to Rome, in part thanks to a cordial diplomatic relationship, the three people claimed.
According to two priests who were aware with the files, they were from the middle of the 1980s and largely concerned mainland China. They contained information about missionary work, accounts of persecution of Catholic believers, and private communications with underground mainland clerics.
In response to the monsignor's threats, at least three missions have begun sending documents abroad, some through secured diplomatic shipments, according to two missionaries and a diplomat. For reasons of safety, they chose not to disclose the missions.
In response to inquiries from Reuters, a government spokeswoman for Hong Kong stated that the Basic Statute, which also guarantees human rights protection and respect, and the national security law both safeguard the city's people' fundamental freedoms and rights.
Security breaches
According to the diocese's official directory, Hong Kong is home to about 50 international Catholic missionary societies and religious orders, housing more than 600 priests, brothers, and nuns who serve as parish priests and in schools, hospitals, and other settings.
During the meetings, the monsignor briefed representatives from the majority of the missionary organisations in Hong Kong. Three Western diplomats claimed to be aware of his worries as well.
According to the four people who attended the talks, the monsignor expressed concern that the situation would worsen because Chinese authorities had named a number of well-known Catholics as key participants in the 2019 pro-democracy protests and opponents of the national security law.
Six missionaries and a diplomat indicated that the 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen's arrest in May of a prominent former bishop of Hong Kong increased the need of taking action to safeguard the church in that city. Zen was jailed as part of a police investigation into possible international coordination over a legal defence fund for protest arrestees.
A cardinal's assistant declined to comment, saying the cardinal had been freed on bond while accusations were pending.
Hong Kong's Catholics were singled out for censure over the 2019 anti-government protests in a study last year that was edited by researchers Chen Jingguo of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a major government think tank, and Zhang Bin of Jinan University.
In the Greater Bay Area, which Chinese and Hong Kong officials are eager to merge, the newspaper looked at the recent growth of religions in Hong Kong and southern mainland China.
The memo said that after the handover, the political climate in Hong Kong has "continuously deteriorated," in part because of influential religious organisations and individuals like Cardinal Zen. According to a document reviewed by Reuters, Catholics were more politically active in the city than other Christians, and their "affiliated instructors and students are more radical."
According to Hong Kong scholars familiar with it, the text, like other so-called "Blue Books" of the academy, has been distributed to mainland academics, federal government agencies, and some state media. When it was published in August, the work was highlighted in the state-run Hong Kong daily Ta Kung Pao, which referred to it as the Greater Bay Area's first comprehensive study of faiths.
When Reuters asked Chen, Zhang, the academy, or Jinan University for comment, none of them responded right away. A Hong Kong diocese official said it had heard missionaries' worries on the paper in response to Reuters' inquiries "constant interaction with regional missionary organisations. We occasionally talk about different topics and exchange opinions."
AUTHENTIC INTERRUPTION
The national security law gives authorities increased surveillance powers, the ability to freeze the assets of anyone of interest before formal charges are filed, and the right to target anything they believe to be subversive foreign interference.
Government representatives from both China and Hong Kong have stated that the law is necessary to maintain stability in the city and that prosecutions are based solely on the evidence, independent of a person's background or line of work.
According to Reuters' estimates based on recent market activity for comparable assets, some Catholic missions own sizable properties in some of Hong Kong's wealthiest districts, including villas, retreat houses, and a hospital, that would be valued at billions of Hong Kong dollars.
According to five people with knowledge of the situation, some missions are considering taking the monsignor's advice and localising their boards of directors and corporate registrations in order to protect themselves from any crackdown, including tighter restrictions on foreigners.
Given the national security law's emphasis on cooperation with foreign authorities and its authority to seize assets, they claimed that such actions would add another layer of separation between the headquarters of foreign missions and local operations.
According to the four people who attended the meetings, the monsignor also advised the missions to be ready for potential restrictions on long-standing initiatives like foreign missionaries serving as parish priests in local churches.
Herrera-message Corona's was the prelate's "own advice," according to Father Pierre Lam Minh, a missionary who is in charge of a local Vatican council that regulates men's missions. He added that there were no restrictions on the missions' ability to practise their religion freely and that they were carrying out their missionary work as usual.
Sr. Joanna Marie Cheung, the head of the women's council, stated that after discussing Reuters' inquiries with the men's group, "we share the same opinion."
As there were no diocesan representatives present, the spokesman for the Hong Kong diocese stated that he was unable to comment on the sessions. He continued by saying that the 2020 national security law had not yet had an impact on the pastoral missions of foreign missions in Hong Kong and that the Basic Law provided religious freedom to citizens of Hong Kong.
