Hong Kong’s new Catholic bishop hopes to foster healing

HONG KONG (AP) — The new head of Hong Kong’s Catholic diocese has expressed hope that he could foster healing in a congregation and a city divided by the continuing fallout from massive anti-government protests in 2019. Bishop Stephen Chow spoke to the gathered after his ordination in the 19th-century Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He asked whether the pandemic, while destructive, has also been a blessing in disguise, as some Hong Kong people reached out to help each other, regardless of political or religious persuasion. The protests, which were quashed by arrests and a tough new national security law, have split both the city and its 400,000 Catholics, who make up about 5.3% of the population. Some support the government, while others say it curtails freedoms.