HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to depart the southern Chinese language metropolis to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican Metropolis.
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 advised The Related 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 mentioned the Vatican’s settlement with Chinese language authorities on the appointment of bishops betrays pro-Vatican Chinese language Catholics. He has additionally criticized Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the official charged with negotiations with Beijing, as a “man of little religion.”
Parolin is taken into account one of many primary contenders to be the following pope, given his prominence within the Catholic hierarchy.
On Tuesday, media stories mentioned 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 stories, however Zen reposted the reporters’ posts about his assertion on his X account.
Given his age, Zen is not going to be among the many cardinals voting within the conclave for a brand new pope.
His secretary mentioned Zen would return to Hong Kong after the late pope’s funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday. However she was uncertain about his actual return date.
It was not the primary time Zen needed to undergo town’s court docket to depart Hong Kong. In 2023, he went by related procedures to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He met Pope Francis in a personal viewers throughout that journey.
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.
Whereas Zen has not but confronted nationwide security-related costs, he and 5 others have been fined in 2022 after being discovered responsible of failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to assist folks arrested in widespread 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A listening to on his enchantment towards the conviction is scheduled for December.
Individually, Hong Kong cardinal Stephen Chow will journey to the Vatican for the conclave, town’s Catholic Social Communications Workplace mentioned 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. Specialists at the moment mentioned 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 language Communist Occasion’s rise to energy and the expulsion of international monks. Because 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 decide on bishops.
