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Ambrose Leung

It would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: hosting a top party cadre, one accused of helping to keep an unholy grip on religious freedom on the mainland, at the Holy Spirit Seminary  in Aberdeen. 
But one year into his job as head of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, Bishop John Tong Hon  did just that when Wang Zuoan ,  director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs,  paid the diocesan leadership a visit last month.
On the eve of his first anniversary of succeeding the outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Tong said the marked change in Beijing's attitude towards the diocese was partly due to his  low-key approach.
'Perhaps Beijing feels the way I do things is less provocative for them,' he told  the South China Morning Post. 'I have always told them about my views and what I disagreed with. I am not a yes-man. It's just that I won't make my criticisms through the newspapers.'
It is likely to be modesty that leads the  cleric, 70, to say there have been no achievements 'worthy' of mention over the past 12 months. 
In reality, few would doubt that the better relations between the diocese and Beijing - at least on the surface - can be attributed to Tong.  
'I am not looking for any breakthrough. I only hope to maintain stability, so that we can move forward smoothly,' he said.
Before Tong took office, some activists had expressed concern that under his leadership the church would retreat from its role as a champion for social justice and political equality.
Tong said that being personally quiet on these issues did not mean the church had scaled back its concern for underprivileged groups. He had delegated the matter to one of the vicars-general, Reverend Pierre Lam Minh, who oversees the work of the diocese's justice and peace commission,  he said.
The bishop himself has met more than 50 priests individually to listen to the difficulties they face in the parishes. And the queues for baptism are growing - there were more than 3,000 at Easter alone this year. 
Tong spent two decades as the diocese's top expert on mainland church affairs, a period that saw the state make sluggish improvement in religious freedoms. Nevertheless, he still believes that Beijing will honour its pledge on Hong Kong's democratic progress under the 'one country, two systems' formula.
'I haven't seen a single instance of Beijing not fulfilling something that was clearly spelled out,' Tong said. 'It is only when it is not clearly spelled out that Beijing can interpret things in favour of its own wishes.'
What constituted a gradual move towards universal suffrage had not been clearly defined, Tong said. But he believed that genuine universal suffrage would be introduced for the chief executive and Legco elections in 2017 and 2020, as promised by Beijing. 'I do believe it. We haven't seen it happen yet, why don't we have faith?'
Tong has already made two official visits to Beijing - once before he took office for the Olympic Games, and the other for National Day  events in Tiananmen Square on October 1. 
Beijing had all but abandoned efforts to build a relationship with Zen after his visit to his native Shanghai shortly after he took office. 
Tong is also taking a conciliatory tone over the diocese's judicial challenge to the government's reform of school management. In February, the Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the government's schools management reforms, introduced in 2004, which require the church to give up its previous 100 per cent control over its sponsored schools.  The diocese has said the schools might lose their Catholic identity, but Tong vows not to close any if the diocese loses the final appeal. 
When he took office, Tong said he hoped to see more people joining the church and entering the priesthood. At Easter alone, more than 3,000 new members joined the church, bringing the total number of baptisms performed for adults and children to  almost 5,000 over the past 12 months.
Tong said there was a need to deepen the formation of faith among Catholics in the diocese, as well as more effort to seek young people who want to enter the priesthood. 
Despite the regular contacts between the Vatican Secretariat of State  and the Foreign Ministry, Hong Kong continues to maintain its importance in the Sino-Vatican equation.
The diocese acts as an important link between the church on the mainland and Rome, with mainland priests allowed to visit Hong Kong freely and interact with Catholics, and vice-versa.
In recognition of Hong Kong's special status, Pope Benedict agreed to a request for a private audience made by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen  - a Catholic - both in 2008 and in January this year, although on both occasions Tsang cancelled the appointments.
It is understood the Foreign Ministry has given tacit approval for Tsang to meet the Pope. Tsang would be the highest ranking Chinese official to meet Pope Benedict.
Meanwhile, Tong said taking a slow pace in life would help him better fulfil his duties. He still manages to maintain his  lifestyle of going to sleep at 11pm and waking at 6am. He completes his work at the diocese's office in time to return to the seminary and pray before  dinner with seminarians, he said. 
'I am a limited company, unlike people who appear to be able to do lots of things in one day. Trying my best doesn't mean overdoing it. How many times can you take out an overdraft?' he said. 
'I live the same life - playing the same weekly game of basketball.'




Soft approach works best with Beijing, head of HK's Catholics says