November 15, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The archbishop of Beijing is visiting Hong Kong this week in a trip that marks a historic first since the Chinese Communist Party severed diplomatic relations with the Vatican 70 years ago. Archbishop Li Shan is the president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-managed Catholic organization in mainland China controlled by the CCP’s United Front Work Department. The Beijing bishop’s five-day visit to the Diocese of Hong Kong is at the invitation of Cardinal Stephen Chow, the city’s bishop, who has said that he sees Hong Kong as “a bridge Church” with the mainland. Li was ordained archbishop of Beijing in 2007 with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI after being named to the post by Chinese authorities months prior. He was the first bishop to be consecrated in China following the publication of Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to Catholics in China. Earlier this year, Li prayed for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China “as soon as possible” during a Mass at the diocesan seminary. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256004/beijing-archbishop-becomes-first-to-visit-hong-kong-since-chinese-revolution A court of appeal dismissed all charges of “hate speech” and “ethnic agitation” against Finnish lawmaker Päivi Räsänen on Tuesday in what has been hailed as a victory for free speech. The Finnish member of Parliament had been charged in 2021 after publicly sharing in 2019 her biblical, religious views on marriage as between one man and one woman. Though Räsänen, 63, was unanimously acquitted by a Finnish District Court in 2022, prosecutors appealed her acquittal to the Helsinki Court of Appeal. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256001/hate-speech-charges-dismissed-for-finnish-lawmaker-who-defended-traditional-marriage The