The former bishop of Hong Kong reportedly travelled to the Vatican to petition against the appointment of a pro-Beijing cardinal to lead the Hong Kong Catholic diocese, but he was not granted an audience with the pope.

Cardinal Joseph Zen arrived in Rome last Wednesday and left on Sunday, according to Vatican journalist Marco Tosatti. Zen reportedly warned against the appointment of Reverend Peter Choy, saying that it would be “horrible” and a “disaster for decades” for the Catholic Church in Hong Kong.

Choy has been tipped as the eventual candidate to head Hong Kong’s Catholic diocese, after the position was vacated following the death of bishop Michael Yeung in January 2019. Former bishop John Tong was brought out of retirement to serve as the church’s temporary leader, and the Vatican has yet to appoint a permanent successor.

“It is said that someone is needed who has the blessing of Beijing, and so a priest is being put forward, Peter Choy. Many of us do not see him as a good choice. The community has been divided,” Zen said, according to Tosatti.

“It is ridiculous that [Choy] would be preferred only because he would be agreeable to Beijing. Beijing is a tyrant.”

The Catholic Church in Hong Kong has gone a year and a half without a bishop, and recently a group within the community is putting forward Choy’s name again, Zen said.

Zen said he did not receive a call from Pope Francis during his stay at the Vatican, which was limited to 120 hours due to pandemic control policies. Zen left a letter with the pope’s private secretary before returning to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Beijing and the Vatican are expected to renew an agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China, which was first signed two years ago and is due to lapse after September.

Zen told Tosatti that the relationship between China and Hong Kong is “now at the bottom,” and that he fears there will be dramatic developments in the near future.

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