Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Catholic Church slams chief exec. candidate Carrie Lam’s suggestion of ‘Religious Affairs Unit’

The Catholic Church in Hong Kong has slammed chief executive candidate Carrie Lam over her pledge to study the possibility of launching a “religious affairs unit” to coordinate religious policies.

The idea received opposition among Christian groups and election committee members. 

Lam, a Catholic herself, then told Ming Pao in an interview that the proposal could be abandoned or put aside after the study is completed.

The Diocese said Lam’s reply “will definitely arouse local Christians to have concerns over freedom of religion in Hong Kong.” 

It urged Lam to remove the relevant points in her manifesto, with Cardinal John Tong writing a letter to Lam on Thursday expressing the Diocese’s “resolute opposition.”