For the first time since brokering a controversial deal with China on the appointment of bishops four years ago, the Vatican Saturday called out Beijing for violating the terms of the accord by installing a bishop in a diocese not recognized by Rome.
At a pre-trial hearing in Hong Kong, a judge set a five-day trial for Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and four other defendants who face charges of failing to properly register a now-defunct fund to help anti-government protesters.
Taiwan’s ambassador to the Holy See has condemned China’s retaliation for the recent visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, saying the decision by Chinese officials to launch missiles into their air and water space is inflammatory, juvenile, and dangerous for the entire region.
Pope Francis is asking Catholics to join him in praying for the faithful in China.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and several others pleaded not guilty in a Hong Kong court to charges of failing to properly register a now-defunct fund to help anti-government protesters.
One of Asia’s top Catholic cardinals said the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen is a cause of concern “about the situation for human rights and threats to religious freedom in Hong Kong.”
Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, reassured Catholics he is fine after being detained and held by national security police for his support of anti-government protesters.
The U.S. State Department has condemned the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen and others by Hong Kong police on May 11 as the latest example that the city’s authorities “will pursue all means necessary to stifle dissent and undercut protected rights and freedoms.”
Hong Kong’s national security police have detained Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, along with former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and singer Denise Ho Wan-sze, for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
Although the world knows that the Dalai Lama lives in exile and is the face of Chinese repression in Tibet, and the media has shone a light on the persecution suffered by the Uyghurs in the Muslim region of Xinjiang, the “relentless, albeit silent, control” Christians suffer in China also deserves attention, according to experts speaking in Rome.
