Catholics Split, Vatican Largely Mum on Hong Kong Protests

Crux ^ | 12/9/19 | Elise Harris

[marshmallow]

ROME – As protests continue in Hong Kong, throwing the city’s future as an autonomous democracy within China into question, Catholics appear split about what exactly their role is in the situation, and just how political they ought to be.

Protests in Hong Kong erupted in June when Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, former Chief Executive of the city, issued a bill granting mainland China extradition rights over any Hong Kong resident, including tourists and foreign nationals.

Facing fierce backlash over the move, Lam – a practicing Catholic – suspended the bill, but she did not immediately meet protesters’ demands to withdraw it and resign from her post, prompting millions of locals to take to the streets. At times clashes between police and protesters have turned violent, and several people have been arrested.

From the beginning, the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong has been supportive of the push to kill the infamous bill, with Cardinal John Tong Hon, the current interim leader of the diocese, at one point urging Lam to withdraw it.

Although the bill was eventually withdrawn, by then the unrest had morphed into a movement pushing for greater democracy, with protesters setting out five specific demands, including universal suffrage and an investigation into alleged police brutality.

This Sunday, what organizers claimed was close to one million people turned out for a demonstration organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, protesting the use of tear gas by police against crowds. Many in the crowd could be seen carrying large banners, bearing slogans such as “Free Hong Kong."

By late afternoon, parts of the city had come to a complete standstill, as crowds attempted to move through the main island close to the main financial hub.

Hong Kong’s new Police Commissioner, Chris Tang, had promised that should things turn violent, police......

[CondorFlight]

Christians of all stripes are playing a major role in Hong Kong’s bid for freedom.

Many churches (including Francis), appear more concerned about relations with the mainland government than in promoting or protecting the freedoms of their congregants to worship.

(In a lot of mainland churches, pictures of Jesus have been replaced with pictures of Xi...)