HONG KONG (SE): The Holy Cross parish in Shau Kei Wan, made an apology for not being able to prevent entrance of riot police onto the premises on November 11 as they sought to arrest protesters. The Diocese of Hong Kong also issued a statement expressing its regret over the incident.
Conflicts between police and protesters escalated after a live rounds were fired by a police officer at an unarmed 21-year-old protester in Sai Wan Ho. Police later said in a press conference that afternoon that the officer fired his weapon because the protester was attempting to grab his gun.
“Our colleague was facing a group and not one man. Their acts were believed to be targeting the officer’s pistol,” Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, was reported as saying.
Upon finding out that young man who had been shot was an alumni of the Salesian English School in Shaukiwan, the China Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco issued a statement condemning the use of excessive and deadly weapons on students. At the same time, they urged young people to express themselves in rational and peaceful manner and to protect themselves as well as people around them while doing so.
The Holy Cross parish issued a statement condemning the use of excessive force during the arrest on November 11. It released video footage from the CCTV cameras at the parish car park which showed riot police barging their way through a closing door a few seconds after a group of people entered and subduing and searching them with force.
On November 12, the parish issued a second statement calling on the police to act with restraint, respect the rule of law and exercise their power strictly according to the Police General Orders.
It also said that it had set up a legal team to follow up the issue and to protect the legal as well as human rights of those who were arrested.
According to the statement, Father Peter Leung Tat-choy, the parish priest, had written a letter to the police to inquiring as to the whereabouts of the protesters arrested assistance could be rendered.
A statement issued by the Diocese of Hong Kong clarified that Deacon Simon Chan Yuk-keung, who is assigned to Holy Cross parish, had not allowed the police to enter, but was in his office and, upon hearing of the incident, rushed to the car park but found the protesters had already been arrested.
“It has to be pointed out that churches today are different from those in the past. Today, there is no way for a church to guarantee that those who enter it will not be arrested according to the law. We deeply regret that the above incident has taken place,” the statement said.
It expressed its earnest hope for peace to be restored in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Parish staff met with parishioners and others to explain the incident on the evening of November 11. Deacon Chan apologised to the parishioners for not being able to carry out the related procedures in the incident. He stressed that the parish welcomed people to go inside rest and that the police need a warrant to enter. He added that prior to his arrival on the scene, a lay person had tried to stop the police from entering but in vain.
The arrest of protesters inside the parish drew the attention of other dioceses in the universal Church with Archbishop Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, issuing a statement on November 14 in which he said, “News of recent violent incidents in Hong Kong are quite shocking and I feel so sorry that such violent force has been used against young protesters. I beg Hong Kong government to employ restraint not to use excessive force to control the situation and pay respect to the human dignity of every person.”
