In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI had written (or at least signed) a letter urging Chinese Catholics who remained in the "underground Church" -- loyal to Rome, not to Beijing -- to reconcile with the Commies' CPCA. Not long before the Pope's letter appeared, the then Archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, was elevated to the rank of cardinal, and given a special mission to "bridge the gap" between the Holy See and Beijing.
Imagine the consternation in the Vatican Secretariat of State when Cardinal Zen, rather than toeing the party line, turned out to be a tireless champion for religious freedom! He insisted that you can't be truly Catholic and truly Communist at the same time, and he exhorted Chinese Catholic leaders -- especially those of the "official" church recognized by the government -- to be more courageous in resisting compromise, and especially in rejecting the claims to authority made by the CPCA.
Two years later, in "Communist Chinese persecution of Catholic Church intensifies" (WWW 24/8/11), I reported that 1000s of Roman Catholic bishops, priests and laypeople have been arrested, imprisoned, tortured, even executed, because of their persistent refusal to join the "official" CPCA. Cardinal Zen excoriated Vatican attempts at rapprochement, saying that the imboglio confirms the lunacy of attempting to appease and co-operate with a Communist régime.
To abandon the fight against Communism, the prelate said, is to say that the thousands of Chinese Catholics who gave up their freedom and often their lives for the sake of fidelity to the Roman Church were wrong, and that their sacrifices were for naught.
A profile of Cardinal Zen is included in the latest video from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper. Warning to faith followers of Pope Francis: This is really strong stuff. It will make you cringe, and cringe you should!
In this video, Mr Matt condemns the virtual non-response of the Vatican to Wednesday's arrest of Cardinal Zen by the Communist authorities in the so-called Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, which has sparked outrage from clergy and politicians around the world. It is no exaggeration to say that the arrest marks a new low for a Chinese Communist régime that has already sunk to shocking levels of inhumanity, barbarity, cruelty and mendacity.
Cardinal Zen was accused of "allegedly colluding with foreign forces" for his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. which was established to offer legal, medical, psychological and emergency financial assistance to those involved in the 2019 protests against the Communist government's Extradition Law Amendment Bill, which would have allowed prisoners to be transferred to China for trial.
Cardinal Zen is 90 years old. If the Commies had run true to form, they would have let him die in jail. Fortuntely, worldwide expressions of shock and outrage forced them to release the prelate shortly after his arrest.
In this video, Dr Taylor Marshall and John-Henry Westen, editor of LifeSite News, discuss the history of the persecution of the underground Church in China by the Chinese Communists, whom Pope Francis and his Secratary of State seem unable... or unwilling... to oppose.
As Mr Westen says, the Vatican, in the agreement with Communist China negotiated by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin (aka "Peter of Rome"), fed the Chinese faithful to the lions!
For details of Cardinal Zen's denunciation of the capitulation of the mainstream Church to godless Communism, see "Vatican-China agreement 'terrible, terrible, terrible'" (WWW 4/12/19) and "Cardinal Zen decries/Vatican defends sell-out of Chinese Catholics" (WWW 3/3/20.)
Responding to the arrest of Cardinal Zen, the Diocese of Hong Kong issued a statement later saying the diocese "is extremely concerned about the condition and safety of Cardinal Joseph Zen and we are offering our special prayers for him. We have always upheld the rule of law. We trust that in the future we will continue enjoying religious freedom in Hong Kong under the Basic Law.
We urge the Hong Kong Police and the judicial authorities to handle Cardinal Zen’s case in accordance with justice, taking into consideration our concrete human situation.
As Christians, it is our firm belief that: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.” (Psalm 23:1)
Our Lady of China (中华圣母) pray for Cardinal Zen, for all Catholic Chinese, and for all who hold and teach the True Faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment