Hong Kong Catholic churches will not hold annual Tiananmen memorial mass for first time in decades over national security law concerns

Catholic churches in Hong Kong will not hold their annual mass for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown for the first time in three decades, citing concerns from frontline colleagues on whether the event would “contravene the national security law”.

The Hong Kong Catholic diocese announced its decision on Tuesday, saying: “According to the Catholic faith, we can commemorate the deceased in different ways, holding a mass is of course one way, but just praying for the deceased in private or in small groups will also be very meaningful.”

Meanwhile, no group has shown an interest in holding commemorative events marking the June 4, 1989 crackdown since the alliance behind the annual vigil at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay disbanded last September.

Authorities, including the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and police, said they had not received any bookings or notifications of events to be held in Victoria Park on June 4.

A department spokesman said it had suspended all bookings on “non-designated usages” of the football pitches in Victoria Park, citing public health concerns arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. But “members of the public could still book the venues for football games” during June 1 to 5, he said.

A police spokesman said the force had not received any applications for events on Hong Kong Island on June 4.

“Police respect the right of the public to express their views peacefully, and will conduct an independent risk assessment based on the latest situation when handling each public event application,” the spokesman said, adding that no details of any police deployment on that day would be made public.