Pope Appoints New Bishop of Hong Kong After 2 Years and 4 Months

Steven Chau, President of the Hong Kong Jesuit Society

Steve Chow, Bishop of the Hong Kong Catholic Church
[Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Pope Francis has officially appointed a new bishop for the Hong Kong Catholic Church after more than two years.

The Vatican announced on the 17th (local time) that the Pope appointed Stephen Chow (61), the Superior General of the Jesuits in Hong Kong, as the new bishop.

Bishop Chow will pastor, manage, and oversee the Hong Kong Diocese as its bishop.

The Hong Kong Diocese had been temporarily overseen by Cardinal John Tong (82) since the passing of Bishop Michael Yeung in January 2019. The Vatican began the process of selecting a successor after Bishop Yeung’s death, but it was reported that the appointment was difficult due to the turmoil caused by the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.

Major foreign media reported that those previously considered for the bishopric were excluded due to close ties with the Chinese government or anti-government stances.

Bishop Chow is regarded as a neutral figure acceptable to both the local Catholic Church and the Chinese government. Born in Hong Kong, he studied abroad in the United States and Ireland and was ordained in 1994. Notably, he belongs to the same Jesuit order as the Pope.

Bishop Chow is expected to mediate issues between the Vatican and the Chinese government and to unify and stabilize the Hong Kong Catholic Church, which has been divided since the pro-democracy protests.

At his first local press conference after his appointment on the 18th, he emphasized the spirit of respecting diversity as a solution to healing divisions. According to AP News, Bishop Chow said, "Unity is not the same as uniformity. One thing I have been emphasizing recently is that unity is diversity. We need to respect diversity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.