WITHOUT any fanfare, the man who is expected to lead Hong Kong's Roman Catholic community in the 21st century went to Beijing last week with two colleagues and opened up a dialogue with China's Communist leaders on how they will coexist after the British territory comes under Chinese rule on July 1st.
Bishop Joseph Zen returned somewhat encouraged that under the concept of "one country, two systems" which will allow Hong Kong to remain a capitalist enclave for 50 years, the Catholic Church would continue to operate freely in what is one of the biggest dioceses in the world. Hong Kong has 250,000 Catholics in a population of 6.4 million, with 300 priests and 300 schools attended by a quarter of Hong Kong's schoolchildren.
But in a wideranging interview, the Most Rev Joseph Zen, Coadjutor Bishop of Hong Kong, frankly expressed concerns for the future under Chinese sovereignty.
"We asked to be invited to Beijing because we think it is our duty to speak out," he said in his Hong Kong office. "We found an open attitude in Beijing. We could say anything we wanted. Unfortunately, many people in Hong Kong who have access to the Chinese government don't tell the truth. They hope to do good business with China and they are trying to appease [China]."
The slightly built 65 year old bishop said he was "pretty optimistic" about the immediate future for two reasons. One: the Basic Law, China's constitution for the territory, contained "a clear guarantee that we can rule our schools and we can teach religion in our schools", and two: an attempt by the Chinese government to give them confidence for the future.
Beijing had not protested, for example, when the Pope appointed Bishop Zen earlier this year as the third Hong Kong bishop, with the right to succeed Cardinal Joseph Wu, thus ensuring that the Pope rather than the Chinese government determined the succession. Nor had Beijing protested when they invited Catholic bishops from Taiwan to his ordination but not bishops from the official Catholic Church in China.
"We couldn't invite the bishops from China because they are not in a legitimate position, while we know the Chinese government is very keen to have their bishops recognised by outside people," he said.
The Catholic Church in mainland China is divided into two groups, the officially recognised or socalled Patriotic Church, which is not allowed to have direct ties with the Vatican, and the underground Catholic Church, which defies Beijing and some of whose priests are in prison. Beijing says the official church has four million adherents. Bishop Zen estimates there are as many underground believers.
The Shanghai born bishop has been at the forefront of efforts to act as a bridge to the official church in China. Since 1989 he was allowed to teach philosophy and theology in seminaries in Shanghai, Wuha, Xian, Shijiazhuang, Beijing and Shenyang, so long as he did not meet underground clergy.
"They are forced to call themselves an independent church but in their hearts they are all with the Holy Father," he said. "Two thirds of those official bishops have already asked for, and received, the recognition of the Holy Father, but in secret, because to make it public would compromise their work."
Future contacts, however, might be more difficult after the transfer of sovereignty. Under the Basic Law there should be "non interference". "That's a tricky word. Because what we think of as a very normal exchange between sister churches may he taken as interference.
And there were already signs of a tightening of restrictions. New regulations had been introduced to normalise the position of the four or five priests teaching in China hut "the permission is not coming". In the last two months a Hong Kong priest was stopped from teaching in Wuhan and sent home.
In Beijing Bishop Zen, Bishop John Tong and the VicarGeneral, the Rev Dominic Chan, argued that the Hong Kong diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, which often speaks out on human rights abuses in China, was appointed by the Cardinal but had a degree of autonomy.
"We told the leaders in `Don't mind that'," if the members took part in human rights demonstrations. "This is part of our culture in Hong Kong. You have nothing to be afraid of. We are not going to make a revolution."
His concern was that the future government of Hong Kong would treat the commission as a political organisation, subject to banning. "We try to explain to them our ways of thinking," he said. "Human rights are more moral than political. So the priests must speak out." Many people were already selfcensoring, "but I don't think we are going to do that."
He was most concerned that there would be an eventual erosion of the Catholic Church role in education. "We know that the communists are very nervous about ideas, and especially our religious education in schools," he said.
"There are things we are enjoying which are not privileges but which tomorrow may be considered privileges." These included Sunday services in schools which had been built by religious orders but were now government property, and religious orders which run the schools having their quarters on the top floor. "But that is no privilege at all because we built that top floor," he said animatedly.
Regarding the heated debate among Hong Kong Christians about whether or not to celebrate October 1st, China's national day commemorating the communist victory in 194,2, Bishop Zen said, "No problem.
The Pope said in December that Catholics can be good citizens under any kind of regime. "So we don't have to fight the regime be cause it is communist, or it is atheistic. We can collaborate. We can respect just laws provided they really give us freedom also for our faith."