Ireland proud as Irish-trained Jesuit named bishop of Hong Kong

Bishop-elect Stephen Chow Sau-yan completed his noviciate in Ireland, continuing a 90-year link between the nations, Ruadhán Jones learned

Jesuit bishops are a rare thing, largely because the Jesuits vow not to seek such offices and will only take up a bishopric if the Pope asks them directly. As such, it wasn’t easy for Fr Stephen Chow SJ to accept the appointment as bishop of the key region of Hong Kong explains Fr Ashley Evans SJ, an Irish Jesuit who knows Bishop-elect Chow through his work in South-East Asia.

“We don’t even see it as a high position,” Fr Evans continues. “We see it as sometimes a bit awkward as Jesuits don’t really want to be bishops… Stephen shared on Facebook that it took him a long time to respond to the Pope’s request, he had to talk with many Jesuits and the Superior General in Rome before he could make a decision. It wasn’t an easy decision for him.”

But this only adds to the sense of pride the Irish Jesuits take in seeing Bishop-elect Chow being given such great responsibility. He is, after all, a product of their theologate in Ireland, having completed his noviciate here, as well as studying philosophy, from 1984 to 1986. Fr Leonard Moloney SJ, Provincial of the Irish Jesuits, tells The Irish Catholic that they are “very proud”.

“We’re very proud of that because we know him very well, he did his noviciate here, he studied philosophy here,” Fr Moloney says. “He’s been the provincial in Hong Kong for the last two or three years. I’ve had intermittent contact with him on different matters and he gave me sound advice on a political stance on the Uyghur people, very profound advice.

“The Irish Jesuits had gone out to Hong Kong 80 or 90 years ago, started a mission there and it’s now, if you like, in Chinese hands,” he continues. “To have a bishop in Hong Kong at this most challenging time in its history who came through our province and who might not have been a Jesuit if not for our mission out there decades and decades ago – we’re very proud.”

Vast experience

The new Hong Kong bishop is well suited to his position, Fr Evans believes, due to his vast experience working in the complex South-East Asia region.

“I knew him from my time working in South-East Asia,” Fr Evans says. “He was co-ordinator for the education work for the Jesuits in the China province and I was the co-ordinator for the Jesuit work in education for the Cambodia mission. He was involved for maybe eight or nine years he was in that work. That was the work he did before he became provincial in China, he was only provincial for about four or five years.

“What he had to do in all that work was cross lots of cultural boundaries, people from Mainland China, from Taiwan, from Hong Kong and Macau – all talking to each other, working together and so he has a good grasp of that whole complex politics of China and the ecclesial situation in China. He had a good sense of how that fits into Asia and the Asian dynamism. Then he was part of the secretariat of Education of the society, so he had to go to Rome occasionally. So he developed a universal perspective also. He’s very well connected and well able to relate to all these groups.”

At the same time, one of Bishop-elect Chow’s “great strengths” is that he is down to earth and has maintained very close contacts with the people of Hong Kong, Fr Evans adds. “He never lost that. That is a great strength, he has a lot of good friends and ordinary people in Hong Kong. He knows a lot of people. I can understand then why the Vatican and the Pope wanted him to be bishop.”

In particular, his experience in education has helped him develop a good understanding of young people, which Fr Evans believes to be very important for Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s political system is being “dismantled” by the Communist party in China, Fr Evans says, and young people have been at the front lines of resistance.

Vital

“He is (close to young people), that’s absolutely vital in Hong Kong because what happened during the democracy protests over two years ago is that they were led by young people,” Fr Evans continues. “College students and high school students led those. In the beginning the older generations were not so enthusiastic for all this umbrella revolution and very explicit marches blocking the streets in Hong Kong.

“They gradually united the whole people in Hong Kong behind them, with huge, huge support among the population. But that protest work has come to nothing since and Hong Kong is slowly being dismantled, both the legal and political framework, by the Communist party in China who want to keep complete control of everything. It is very hard for the young people in Hong Kong, some of whom are in prison now for organising protests or participating.”

This exemplifies only the political complexities of Hong Kong which face Bishop-elect Chow, Fr Evans says. There are still the difficult relations between China and the Church to contend with.

“On the Church front, it’s also very complicated because you have the Patriotic Association and you have the ‘Underground Church’,” Fr Evans explains. “The Vatican has made an arrangement with the China Protocol, signed for two years and renewed for a few years, when there was a discussion around the appointment of bishops and an agreement.”

Compromise

“The former archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Zen, he opposes any compromise with the Communist government. He went off to Rome to meet Pope Francis to try and persuade Pope Francis not to sign this document, he said the Communist party has one aim and that is to neutralise anything there is to do with the Catholic Church.

“That is the context in which Stephen Chow has had to take over this leadership of the Diocese of Hong Kong. Cardinal Zen is an old figure who has a strong stance against the Communist government and a big following in Hong Kong and Zen is popular among the young people. Cardinal Zen is very popular with the young people.”

All things considered, however, Fr Evans’ theme is one of hope and support for Bishop-elect Chow, and for the beleaguered Catholic community: “The Church in Hong Kong is a minority one, but it’s a vibrant Catholic community, vibrant parishes and locations,” Fr Evans says. “It’s not very big, but it’s certainly vibrant.”