New Hong Kong reporting law sparks concerns about Catholic seal of confession

By CJ Wu, Global Christian Relief Saturday, June 15, 2024

Helicopters fly past with the Hong Kong and Chinese flags during a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China, in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022. - President Xi Jinping hailed China's rule over Hong Kong as he lead 25th anniversary celebrations of the city's handover from Britain on July 1, insisting that democracy is flourishing despite a years-long political crackdown that has silenced dissent. | ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images

A new law in Hong Kong is raising fears of deteriorating human and religious rights in the special administrative region of China. Under the recently passed legislation — known as Article 23 — members of the clergy could be prosecuted for not reporting "treasonous" acts to the police if they hear subversive words against the government during confession.

Before the law passed in March, 16 international religious liberty experts released a joint statement expressing "profound and grave concerns" about the implications of the rule. The group is concerned that Article 23 directly threatens religious freedom, particularly the confidentiality of the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession, in the Catholic Church.

Although the Diocese of Hong Kong responded that the law "will not alter the confidential nature of Confession of the Church," it also said it "recognizes that citizens have an obligation to ensure national security," giving little reassurance to the 392,000 Catholics it serves.

For the third consecutive year, the Diocese of Hong Kong has had to cancel vigil mass to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in China, fearing they may violate the new law. Priests have not mentioned government-related topics during mass, for fear of being reported by parishioners.

A report issued by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation also argues that religious freedom is worsening in the region and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pressuring people of faith and institutions in several ways.

Religious leaders are expected to promote CCP priorities, sermons should demand churchgoers adhere to socialist values and religious schools should integrate national identity-based curriculum.

"Sinicization of religion is affecting the church quite aggressively," said Frances Hui, author of the report and a Catholic activist. "Religious freedom is an indispensable part of freedom of speech. Wherever a place's religious freedom is threatened, we need to pay attention.

Each of the six major religious groups (Protestant, Catholic, Islamic, Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist) holds positions in Hong Kong's Election Committee, allowing them to participate politically. Leveraging this vital role, Hong Kong's government controls religion through these groups' leading organizations. After implementing Article 23, these six organizations have been in close contact with the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, which arranges visits to mainland China to discuss the Sinicization of religion.

The Hong Kong Diocese has already requested that all priests and nuns visit Beijing. The first group, mostly educators, visited last September. During his 2023 China trip, Cardinal Bishop of Hong Kong Stephen Chow did not mention human rights or religious freedom concerns, nor did he visit any faithful Chinese underground churches.

"Hong Kong is implementing Sinicization now, which means that we [Hong Kong] should be independent of the Western influence," said Eric Lai, a research fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law. "This is to simply indoctrinate the CCP ideology, not improving the inculturation of religion as we understand it."

Lai also believes eventually the Hong Kong government will establish a patriotic association for all major religions, as China has done.

"Then, they [China] can tame religious leaders who will work closely with the government, or use lay people to fight against the clergy," he said.

CJ Wu is a writer for Global Christian Relief (GCR), America’s leading watchdog organization focused on the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. In addition to equipping the Western church to advocate and pray for the persecuted, GCR works in the most restrictive countries to protect and encourage Christians threatened by faith-based discrimination and violence.