Two decades ago, the Catholic Church in Hong Kong joined half a million people to overturn the government’s plan to implement a national-security law that would threaten the city’s freedoms.

‘Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that ... of penance has been undermined by Hong Kong’s latest draconian domestic-security ...

Chow’s trip followed a year of strained relations in which Beijing unilaterally appointed two church leaders and Hong Kong arrested a cardinal. Hong Kong’s diocese “is affiliated with the ...