Hong Kong allows outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen to attend Pope Francis’ funeral

Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen (Image: AP)

HONG KONG: Hong Kong‘s outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to go away the southern Chinese metropolis to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City.
Zen, a 93-year-old retired bishop, left Hong Kong on Wednesday evening after making use of at a court docket to get again his passport, his secretary instructed The Associated Press in a textual content message on Thursday. Authorities confiscated his passport after his controversial arrest beneath a Beijing-imposed nationwide safety legislation in 2022.
Zen is among the many critics lately who’ve stated the Vatican’s settlement with Chinese authorities on the appointment of bishops betrays pro-Vatican Chinese Catholics. He has additionally criticized secretary of state Pietro Parolin, the official charged with negotiations with Beijing, as a “man of little faith.” Parolin is taken into account one of many fundamental contenders to be the subsequent pope, given his prominence within the Catholic hierarchy.
On Tuesday, media studies stated Zen had issued a critique of the Vatican, questioning why pre-conclave conferences began as early as Tuesday. The AP couldn’t independently confirm the studies, however Zen reposted the reporters’ posts about his assertion on his X account.
His secretary stated Zen would return to Hong Kong after the late pope’s funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday. But she was uncertain about his actual return date. It was not the primary time Zen had to undergo town’s court docket to go away Hong Kong. In 2023, he went by related procedures to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
Zen was first arrested in 2022 on suspicion of colluding with international forces beneath the safety legislation. His arrest despatched shockwaves by the Catholic group at the moment.
While Zen has not but confronted nationwide security-related fees, he and 5 others had been fined in 2022 after being discovered responsible of failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to assist individuals arrested in widespread 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A listening to on his enchantment in opposition to the conviction is scheduled for December.
Separately, Hong Kong cardinal Stephen Chow will journey to the Vatican for the conclave, town’s Catholic Social Communications workplace stated Thursday.
In 2023, a Beijing bishop who was put in by China’s state-controlled Catholic church as an archbishop visited Hong Kong on the invitation of Chow. It was the first-ever official go to by a Beijing bishop to town. Experts at the moment stated Chow’s invitation was a symbolic gesture that would strengthen the delicate ties between China and the Vatican.
Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties following the Chinese Communist Party’s rise to energy and the expulsion of international monks. Since the break in ties, Catholics in China have been divided between those that belong to an official, state-sanctioned church and people in an underground church loyal to the pope. The Vatican acknowledges members of each as Catholics however claims the unique proper to select bishops.