Pope Benedict appoints new Hong Kong bishop

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Pope Benedict appointed John Tong Hon, as the new Bishop of Hong Kong is the Roman Catholic Church after his predecessor in the high-profile after retirement, the Vatican said on Wednesday. In a statement, said the Pope had officially stated that the retirement age grounds by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, whose open to democratic and religious freedoms was the criticism from Beijing. According to newspaper reports, Tong has indicated that he would provide a more flexible approach than his predecessor and should bridge the Vatican and China ties. He is also expected that a cardinal at some point in the future. Tong was named Hong Kong's Associate bishop last year, paving the way for him success Zen, 77, the long-asked to retire. China is 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. million Catholics are divided between a government-sanctioned church and an underground church that rejects government ties and answers only to the pope. Beijing and the Vatican have no formal diplomatic relations, the Catholic leaders in Hong Kong, a former British colony and is now a Special Administrative Region "of China, with far-reaching autonomy, an important liaison role. Benedict has an improvement of relations with China a major goal of his pontificate. China says that before the restoration of relations broken off two years after the communist takeover of 1949, the Vatican has relations with Taiwan. Comments Please login to post comments or replies.