Hong Kong clergy fear Beijing could bug confessionals
Concerns grow that new legislation enacted by China could threaten priests who fail to report dissension among their flock
Hong Kong’s Catholics are worried that new legislation means Beijing could bug confessionals, imprison priests or send in spies to entrap the city’s clergy, with one priest saying it was “like a knife above your head”.
The fears come amid another major tightening of already tough national security laws.
Article 23 came into force on Saturday introducing a series of new and vaguely defined crimes including treason, sabotage, sedition, the theft of state secrets, external interference and espionage.
It was hurriedly passed this week by Hong Kong’s Legislative Assembly, coming on top of the 2020 National Security Law, which has already effectively stifled any dissent or opposition to China in the city of 7.4 million.
Although it has faced state pressure, so far, the church has largely avoided the kind of sweeping detentions politicians, activists and journalists have faced as part of Beijing’s crackdown on civil rights and freedoms.
But fears have grown that the sacred Seal of Confession, a Christian doctrine that forbids priests from sharing anything confessed to them, might be threatened by a provision in Article 23.
The new law means anyone who knows that someone has committed treason or plans to do so but fails to report it to the police can be jailed for up to 14 years.
“People might hesitate to [take] this sacrament, priests might end up in prison, eavesdropping devices might be found in the confessionals,” one Hong Kong priest, who asked to speak anonymously out of security concerns, told The Telegraph.
“For us true believers, we are not scared, we only worry that people in need will not be helped,” another priest said, adding that self-censorship was hindering his profession’s mission to speak the truth.
“In reality, we are not able to spread the whole gospel, we are not allowed to speak the whole truth, we are not free to warn our people about the evil of communism and the harms it has done in history,” he said. “What kind of truth-bearers are we, if we do not stand up for the truth? That’s the main struggle.”
Sting operations
Another priest told The Telegraph that there were also fears of sting operations.
“If the government really wanted to ... they could essentially send in some spies to confess to the priest and [if] the priest says nothing, then they file a report saying I confessed to the priest and he did not report,” they said.
“I don’t think any Catholics would have the courage or would dare to say anything in the confessional that may potentially jeopardise the priest. But it’s like there is a knife above your head.”
These fears mean many priests are exercising self-censorship to avoid any issues.
“Basically, any criticism against the government is eliminated. You rarely see priests criticising the government,” they said.
When asked about the issue earlier this month, Paul Lam, Hong Kong’s secretary for justice, said it would be “very difficult to create exceptions” for the clergy.
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said in a statement last week that it “recognises that citizens have an obligation to ensure national security” but insisted the security law “will not alter the confidential nature of Confession”.
But such are the fears around the possibility of prosecution, that even expatriate Hong Kongers are taking extra precautions.
In Britain, Roy Chan, a pastor at the Good Neighbour Church England, said some of his previously 180-strong congregation were leaving out of fear that “spies” within the flock could file reports about dissent or possible breaches of the opaque law back to the authorities.
“In the last few months, some church members have become afraid, asking me not to say things in a political way or it will become more dangerous for us,” he told The Telegraph.
Mr Chan founded the church in London, Birmingham and Manchester after fleeing political repression in Hong Kong, taking his young family into self-exile in 2020.
He had led a church of a similar name that was targeted by the authorities after they accused it of supporting the city’s pro-democracy movement.
‘White terror’
The security law had brought “white terror” to the church service, said Mr Chan, referring to a term used in Hong Kong to refer to creeping authoritarianism and the policing of freedom of expression and thought.
The phrase has been used to describe multiple periods of political persecution throughout history, but in Hong Kong it normally recalls decades of martial law and repression in nearby Taiwan from 1947 to 1987.
Religious leaders say self-censorship and the avoidance of topics like social justice or human rights has been widespread in Hong Kong’s churches since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 to stamp out the anti-government protests that shook the financial hub the year before.
At the time, Cardinal John Tong issued a pastoral letter to all clergy advising them to be cautious in their sermons.
The former head of the Catholic church in Hong Kong, John Tong
The former head of the Catholic church in Hong Kong, John Tong CREDIT: AFP/PHILIPPE LOPEZ
Article 23 would make the situation worse by creating more “tools” to accuse people of offences even without evidence, said Mr Chan.
In a report late last year on threats to freedom of belief, the Hong Kong Watch advocacy group suggested Beijing’s hostility towards religion was likely exacerbated by the fact that many of the city’s pro-democracy activists were people of faith.
Some churches also found themselves on the front lines of the demonstrations, offering shelter and comfort to fearful young protesters. Volunteers from Mr Chan’s church were regularly seen lining up quietly as a buffer between protesters and riot officers and trying to play a mediating role.
The current threats to freedom of religion were “subtle, complex and undramatic,” said the report.
“Instead of a physical crackdown on religion in Hong Kong, the authorities’ aim is to create an environment in which religious leaders and practitioners feel obligated to self-censor, compromise and kowtow, in order to protect the basic freedom of worship that they enjoy.” |
2024/3/21 17:41
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2024/3/27 11:25
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