Hong Kong bishop invites head of China’s state-backed church

By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop on Friday said he had invited the state-appointed archbishop of Beijing to visit his city, in a symbolic gesture that experts said could strengthen the fragile relationship between China and the Vatican. Bishop Stephen Chow said Joseph Li, who is the leader of the mainland’s Communist Party-sponsored version of the Catholic church, appeared to be “quite positive” about the invitation. The report gave no indication when Li might visit. Chow announced the invitation on the last day of a five-day trip to Beijing, the first by a bishop of Hong Kong in nearly three decades. Chow’s trip followed a year of strained relations, in which Beijing unilaterally appointed two church leaders and Hong Kong arrested a cardinal.