Li Ka-shing vs. the Priest

• November 13, 2010, 8:00 AM HKT

A Catholic priest’s willingness to speak his mind about Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong business leader who is one of the city’s biggest real-estate developers, has prompted meetings with a representative of Mr. Li and an unusual statement of “regret” from the church — though not from the priest.

It all started on Oct. 31, when Reverend Thomas Law of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong compared Li Ka-shing to the devil in a discussion criticizing property practices. After a Halloween party, the Rev. Law said that ghosts couldn’t compare to greedy property developers and mentioned Mr. Li as the “true devil that kills people.”

Local media picked up the Reverend’s comments, which made their way to the property magnate. On Nov. 2, Gerald Ma, head of corporate strategy for Mr. Li’s Cheung Kong Holdings and a devout Catholic, met with Vicar General Michael Yeung at his office. According to the diocese office, Mr. Ma called Mr. Li during the meeting so that he could speak directly to Mr. Yeung. Representatives for Mr. Li weren’t available for comment.

This Thursday, the Catholic diocese released a statement in its church publication that expressed “regret” for causing “unpleasantness” for Mr. Li. The statement also mentioned that Mr. Li has decided not to pursue the incident and will continue to fund the diocese’s Caritas charity. The diocese has otherwise remained silent about the incident – the bishop and high-ranking priests, including Mr. Yeung, have been on an annual retreat and are unavailable until next week.

Rev. Law, who remained in Hong Kong, has plenty to say. He insists that his comment was made in a casual conversation among friends, in the school playground after the Halloween party.

“I was actually making jokes with my friends,” he says. “It was not a talk nor a formal sermon.” He says that he didn’t mean to target Mr. Li, that it wasn’t a personal attack on the businessman, and that Mr. Li was merely used as an example of all property developers.

However, Rev. Law doesn’t regret making the statements: “I have nothing to add to my comments nor do I wish to withdraw a sentence.” He said he knew local media was present and he had permitted them to be there.

Although the Reverend said he had no comment on his diocese’s statement of regret, he is keeping the conversation alive on his Facebook page. In a post from 4 p.m. Friday, the Reverend wrote: “The Church is the holder of God’s Truth. It should NOT give in to the rich & famous, or ‘compromise’ our belief & principles for the comfort of the continuing donation.” The comment drew 12 “likes” and two comments of support.