Many ways to read this

In the South China Morning Post today I read that the Hong Kong diocese-sponsored pilgrimage to the Sheshan Basilica scheduled for May 24 has been cancelled for vague reasons. The wording of this is different than other sources I've read.

A pilgrimage of Hong Kong Catholics to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan
Help of Christians, 34km from Shanghai, has been cancelled after mainland
authorities vetoed the trip on the scheduled date. The pilgrimage had been
planned for May 24, in response to a letter from Pope Benedict to Chinese
Catholics in June marking that day as one of prayer for the Catholic Church in
China. The day was originally the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. Reverend
Dominic Chan Chi-ming, vicar general of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, said he
was given only vague reasons for the cancellation, although he said it may be
because the trip involved about 1,000 pilgrims. He said officials had offered to
approve the trip for other dates "but that would be meaningless; we want it to
take place on this date in particular". The Olympic torch is scheduled to pass
through Shanghai on May 20 and 21.

From Zenit.org two days ago

The Diocese of Hong Kong canceled a pilgrimage to mainland China this May, after
the bishop of Shanghai said it would be "inconvenient" for them to host the
group.In his pastoral letter to Catholics in China last June, Benedict XVI
designated May 24, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, as the day of
prayer for the Catholic Church in China.At a July press conference, Cardinal
Joseph Zen, bishop of Hong Kong, expressed his hope that the Hong Kong Diocese
would organize a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan Help of
Christians, located 21 miles from Shanghai, as a response to the Pope’s
appeal.Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian of Shanghai showed his support of the
initiative in his Christmas pastoral letter, urging his flock to show their
hospitality to all pilgrims, regardless of whether they were from mainland China
or elsewhere.In late March, however, Bishop Jin wrote to the Diocese of Hong
Kong to say that it would be “inconvenient” to host the diocese May 24,
according to Kung Kao Po, Hong Kong's diocesan weekly newspaper. The news was
posted on its Web site today.

It is all interesting, especially in light of Adam's own blogging after a visit to Sheshan which has been preparing for its busiest May in history. There are many ways to read this development.

Certainly, security all over China is tightening up for the Olympic torch runs and the Olympics, and May 24 does fall close to the run-dates in Shanghai. And the PRC government allowing for other dates to grant the visas for the tour groups does create a problem for the Hong Kong diocese leadership--is it worth the trouble to travel in such large groups for an alternate date, as reported in the SCMP? They are choosing to cancel rather than be dictated another date for their pilgrims. I wonder what alternate dates the government is proposing. If they were outside the month of May, I think I would be bitterly reluctant to pursue pilgrimage plans, too. However, if they were still in May, I wonder if I were in their shoes I would still press for the visa, if only to call the governement's bluff (if it is a bluff). Of course, none of this news affects individual visa applications from Hong Kong, just most visibly the tour groups organized by the Hong Kong Diocese.

Then again, on the other hand, if for this Mass on May 24 the Mainland attendees alone are expected to exceed more than the seating capacity of the Basilica (which Adam reports as being nowhere near 3000 as described in Wikipedia), then perhaps another 1000 Hong Kongers would be more than inconvenient--it would be a disaster. The Shanghai Diocese would be accused of being worse than poor hosts when they can't accomodate everyone who wants to be there on that specific feast day. Just like the Papal Masses and related events coming up in the US, it would be pure lunacy not to restrict attendance numbers with respect to the size of the venue. Can you imagine if the Mass at, say, Yankee Stadium were 100% open-seating? Why wouldn't assured access be given to local PRC-national pilgirms, many of whom for political and (today moreso) financial reasons have only this pilgrimage site within their reach? Why burden the diocese of Shanghai with worrying about the comfort of 1000 extra Hong Kongers?

So read this as you like.