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