Cardinal replies to appeal from Hong Kong leader

CARDINAL Basil Hume has replied to Cardinal John Baptist Wu's plea for help and support for the people of China and Hong Kong following the Tianmen Square massacre in June (Catholic Herald, July 21). Mgr Vincent Nichols, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England on behalf and Wales, wrote lf of
explain the Cardinal Hume to steps which the bishops' conference have recently taken.
In the letter Mgr Nichols pointed out to Cardinal Wu, leader of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, actions already taken by the Catholic Church in Britain which included a joint letter from the bishops' conference and the General Secretary of the British Council of Churches to the former foreign secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe. They pointed out that the Church and Christian bodies in Hong Kong an representative organisations r were significant organisations and should he heeded for that reason. The Catholic Church in Britain has urged the government to act on three essential factors in order to secure the future stability of the island, Mgr Nichols said. A Bill of Rights should be passed; there should be rapid progress towards a directly elected representative government, the restoration of entry and abode in the UK to Hong Kong British passport holders and a guarantee for a place of refuge to all other Hong Kong citizens. The plight of the people of Hong Kong and China is now a concern for all Catholics in the UK, Mgr Nichols said.
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"Catholics in this country will pray for the people of China everywhere . . . and for the people of Hong Kong and the Catholic Church and Christian communities." On the plight of the Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong Mgr Nichols told Cardinal Wu that Britain's handling of the problem "should be such as to give a lead to other governments." The plea Coall ents and the international community to find places of final settlement for the refugees from Vietnam deserves the fullest support."