ASIA/CHINA - The Bishops of Shanghai and Hong Kong pray together for the Pope's health at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan

Sheshan (Agenzia Fides) – “I was here with Bishop Joseph Shen Bin to pray for Pope Francis.” With these words, Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Bishop of Hong Kong, describes the central moment of his recent visit to Shanghai, reported in KungKaoPo, the weekly bulletin of the diocese of Hong Kong.

The visit, which began on February 24 and ended recently, reflected the desire to walk together on the “bridge of dialogue and communion.”
At the Marian shrine of Sheshan, before the image of Our Lady so dear to Pope Francis, Cardinal Chow and Bishop Shen Bin together prayed for the health of the Pontiff during the solemn liturgy of February 25.

The Hong Kong delegation, led by Cardinal Chow, included Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing OFM, Diocesan Vicar Peter Choy Wai Man and other priests and lay people.

On arriving at the Basilica, the two bishops, together with the assembly of the faithful, recited the prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan written by Pope Benedict XVI. “It was a very special experience and it moved me deeply. I cried during the prayer,” Cardinal Chow said. “The Sheshan shrine is a sacred place for the Church in China. I was here with Bishop Shen Bin to pray for the Pope.” The Cardinal also stressed the importance of “spirituality in exchange,” and noted that in the diocese of Shanghai the ecclesiastical community maintains continuous relations with the civil authority. “In Hong Kong too, we must have an open heart for exchange and cooperation with the various parties. There is room and even need for mutual exchange and cooperation between the sacred and the secular.” The Cardinal and Bishop of Hong Kong expressed his hope for more exchange and cooperation in the future, noting that “the Church is a bridge of dialogue and communion.” “May this journey of encounter,” Cardinal Chow insisted, “inspire us to walk in faith and hope and to strengthen ties within the universal Church.”

In addition to the Sheshan Shrine and the diocesan seminary located in the Shrine, during their stay in Shanghai, the Hong Kong delegation visited the Cathedral of St. Ignatius, the Bishopric, the Guangqi Publishing House, the churches chosen for the Jubilee pilgrimage, some parish communities and also Buddhist temples. The Cardinal expressed his desire to welcome brothers and sisters of the Church of Shanghai to Hong Kong as soon as possible.

Pope Francis has often mentioned the devotion of the people of God in China to Our Lady of Sheshan, entrusting his desire to make a pilgrimage to this Shrine. In the video message sent to the Conference on the centenary of the Primum Concilium Sinense held at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on 21 May (see Fides, 21/5/2024), Pope Francis recalled that “Precisely in these days, in the month of May, dedicated by the people of God to the Virgin Mary, many of our Chinese brothers and sisters make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Sheshan, to entrust their prayers and their hopes to the intercession of the Mother of Jesus.” “I too - added the Bishop of Rome on that occasion - ideally climb the hill of Sheshan. And together let us entrust to Our Lady, Help of Christians, our brothers and sisters in the faith who are in China, all the Chinese people and all our poor world, asking for her intercession, so that peace may always triumph everywhere.” (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 4/3/2025)

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