The Chinese media has reported on Pope Francis in “an honest, objective
way” in these first four months of his pontificate “and that is already
unusual”, according to Cardinal John Tong Hon, the bishop of Hong Kong.The reporting is “neutral”, he told me during his recent visit to Rome. He considers it ‘significant’ that it never ‘faults’ the new Pope.
Pope Francis “has made a good impression” on Chinese Catholics, he said. He recalled that when he returned to Hong Kong after the conclave last March “many people” came up to him in church, or stopped him on the street, “to thank God that the cardinals elected such a good pope”. “It’s God’s blessing for us”, they told him.
Tong was the only cardinal to give a gift to the new Holy Father in the Sistine Chapel after his election on March 13. He told me that at lunch that day he had come to realize that the cardinals could elect the new pope that same afternoon, and so he put into his pocket a small bronze statue of Our Lady of Sheshan which he had brought with him from Hong Kong. The statue was originally in a box, but that was too big to carry into the chapel so he took it out of the box.
When his turn came to greet the new Holy Father, he took the statue out of his pocket and gave it to him and said: “The Church in Hong Kong and China loves you!” Then as he went to kiss the Pope’s hand, Francis kissed his hand. “I was shocked”, the cardinal told me. He revealed that Pope Francis did the same on the day when he bade him farewell as he left the Vatican for Hong Kong, and told him “The Church in China is in my heart.”
The Chinese cardinal believes Pope Francis has started his ministry very well with his spontaneous, human approach to people and his ‘great concern for the poor’. He is particularly happy with the way Francis has spoken, on a number of occasions, about China and the Church in China, reaching out in a friendly, open way.
Despite the present stalemate in Sino-Vatican relations, the cardinal is optimistic about the future of this relationship. “I am always optimistic. Some would say I am naïf, but I am optimistic that with new leadership in the Vatican and Beijing a gradual development can take place in relations between China and the Holy See” he said. He thinks both sides could return to a pragmatic way of resolving problems, but for this to happen ‘dialogue is necessary.”
When I asked if he thought a pragmatic solution could be found for Shanghai’s Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daquin, he did not rule it out. The situation is delicate, much reflection has taken place. “I think Beijing knows that the present situation is not good for them, it is not good for the Church in China, and it is not good for the relationship between China and the Holy See”, he commented.
At the end of the day, he said the interruption of the dialogue between the Holy See and China is in nobody’s interest. “It is essential that we talk together”, he stated.