A photo of the outside of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Archdiocese of Beijing taken on July 2, 2021. Photo: CFP

Stephen Chow Sau-yan, the top Catholic cleric in Hong Kong, arrived in Beijing in a five-day historic visit on Monday night, according to Hong Kong media outlets. 

Chow becomes the first Hong Kong bishop to visit Beijing since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997. 

Chow and several of his senior priests visited the Chinese capital city at the invitation of Bishop of Beijing Joseph Li Shan, who also serves as head of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, a media outlet based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) RTHK reported Monday night. He participated in the vesper at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Archdiocese of Beijing on Monday night, with a dozen of faithful in attendance. 

Chow said ahead of the five-day visit that he hoped to promote exchanges and interactions between the Chinese mainland and the broader Church, Reuters reported. 

The group is scheduled to meet with other local bishops, clergy and laity, and visit the Beijing Diocesan Seminary, the National Seminary of Catholic Church in China and relevant authorities of religious affairs in Chinese mainland, according to RTHK. 

Chow was appointed bishop of Hong Kong in May 2021. 

Global Times