Hong Kong’s Catholic Bishop Stephen Chow appointed to College of Cardinals by Pope Francis
- Bishop Chow among 21 new cardinals announced at Vatican on Sunday
- Catholic diocese of Hong Kong appeals to faithful to ‘keep praying for him’ and for city
Hong Kong’s Catholic Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan will be one of 21 new cardinals appointed by Pope Francis at the end of September – a promotion that will qualify him to vote in elections to choose future leaders of the church.
Pope Francis announced the selection of new cardinals on Sunday at his traditional weekly public appearance at St Peter’s Square in Rome.
The Pope told the crowds in St Peter’s Square: “I would like to announce that next September 30 I will hold a consistory for the appointment of new cardinals.
“Where they come from expresses the universality of the church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people of the earth.”
“Bishop Chow urges the faithful to keep praying for him and the Diocese of Hong Kong,” the Hong Kong diocese said after the pope’s announcement.
Chow will be the fourth cardinal to hail from Hong Kong. The others are the late John Baptist Wu Cheng-chung, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 91, and John Tong Hon, 83.
The Pope’s choices for the College of Cardinals are closely watched as members aged under 80 are eligible to take part in the conclave to appoint a new pontiff.
Hong Kong Catholic bishop calls for closer ties with mainland Chinese churches
Pope Francis, who is 86, was elected to the papacy in 2013.
Chow was born in Hong Kong in 1959. He was appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong two years ago, after the death of Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung in 2019.
He is one of the youngest clerics to be promoted to bishop in Hong Kong since the first Chinese prelate was appointed in 1969. Chow is also seen as a moderate, or politically neutral.
Patriotism is everyone’s duty, Hong Kong bishop says during historic Beijing trip
He said at the time the visit underlined the mission of the Hong Kong church to be a bridge institution and promote exchanges and interactions between the two sides.
The bishop also called for closer ties between the city’s diocese and churches and their counterparts in mainland China.
The new cardinals also include Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis, the bishop of Penang, Malaysia and the Vatican’s top official in the Middle East, Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Others set to be elevated are several prelates with, or about to take over, senior church posts, such as Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, who was just appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Vatican’s office for ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy.
