Bishop Stephen Chow, Hong Kong’s top Catholic cleric, will visit Beijing in April, the first such visit in nearly 30 years.

Bishop Chow’s five-day trip will start on April 17, following an invitation last year by the Bishop of Beijing, Joseph Li Shan, said the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese in a statement.

It cited Bishop Chow saying the visit “underscores the mission of the Diocese of Hong Kong to be a bridge….and promote exchanges and interactions between the two sides”.

A Diocese spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that it will be the first time since 1994 – when Hong Kong was still a British colony – that a Hong Kong bishop has officially visited Beijing.

Hong Kong has for decades been a strong Catholic beachhead on the edge of inland China under officially atheist Communist Party rule and is seen by some Catholics as a source of friction in a habitually tense Sino-Vatican relationship.

Vatican officials said that Hong Kong is not part of a secret but provisional 2018 agreement between the Holy See and Beijing over the appointment of bishops.

That accord was a bid to ease a longstanding divide across mainland China between an underground flock loyal to the pope and a state-backed official church.

For the first time since the 1950s, both sides recognised the pope as the supreme leader of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis named Bishop Stephen Chow as bishop of Hong Kong in May 2021 — a long-delayed appointment amid growing Western concern over human rights and freedoms in the city.

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