It is reported that Joseph Card. Zen, 90, has been arrested in Hong Kong.
Pray for him and Chinese Catholics.
I have not seen any statement from the Holy See.
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So it all begins. And he at age 90. Saying prayers right now.
Card. Zen warned Pp Francis about ceding apostolic authority to the Communist Party. Jesus, please guide our leaders back on track. Or are they not listening to you either?
May Mother Mary and all the angels protect the Cardinal and all these poor people.
There seems to be an update that the holy Cardinal was released. This white martyr was refused an audience with pope Francis when he was in Rome. Almost all sorts of other folks get audiences but not this holy one.
For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, Have Mercy on Joseph Cardinal Zen and on the whole world.
intercessionforpriests.org/cardinal-merciers-prayer-holy-spirit/
O Holy Spirit soul of my soul I adore you. Enlighten guide, strengthen and console me. Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promise to submit to everything that you ask of me and to accept all that you allow to happen to me. Just show me what is your will.
The media is reporting that he was released on bail.
How long, O Lord.
God be with Cardinal Zen and all who suffer from tyranny.
Cardinal Zen was arrested for assisting a group that paid legal and medical expenses for Hong Kong resistance members. He was quickly released on bail. The US State Department “condemns” the arrest and the Vatican is “concerned.”
Senor Quixana – the Vatican is concerned that this will put their agreements with China in a bad light, that’s all.
Cardinal Zen has long been in my daily morning offering by name — as is Father Z and a host of other faithful priests without whom our life in the Church today would be even more daunting.
Do I recall correctly that Pope Francis did not receive Cardinal Zen last year when the Cardinal attempted to have a meeting with him?
Does it not say everything?
There is no further need for a “statement” from the Bergoglian pontificate. We all got the message. Then of course there was the recent slap in the face rendered to Cardinal Burke who sought admission to the offices of the Congregation for the Saints. Despite having recovered from Covid he was not vaxed and that is an offense against the eleventh commandment.
Do we live during the Wuhan pontificate? Cardinals of the greatest faith and laity alike regarded only as useful idiots except when they are useless.
We are not privy to all the back-channel messages and workings that may be going on to try to “sort out” this problem. And few of us are state department diplomats who understand how these things work. But a few things can be guessed at:
(1) The Chinese authorities knew in advance that arresting a cardinal would get the Vatican “concerned”, and they did it anyway.
(2) They could probably have “waited out” Card. Zen’s death, or to ignore him and go after the others only. The fact that they chose not to take such paths indicates, probably, not that they are impatient to go after the causes of their pain (the Chinese are quite good at patience when it serves their purposes), but that being seen to go after not just the other 4, but Card. Zen also, i.e. making a clear statement to others / the world. That is, it serves their purposes to have included Card. Zen in the round-up even though they would get raised eyebrows from the Vatican.
(3) We don’t know the exact nature of the agreement between the Chinese govt and Rome, but there may have been a vaguely worded, or at least implied, indicator that Rome would engage in a (wink & nod) “protest” about such heavy-handed maneuvers as arresting public Catholics on trumped-up charges, without any real teeth to such protest, and this is all just playing out the implicit terms of the agreement. We’ll probably never know for sure.
(4) While the arrests were precipitated by one of the 5 leaders of the legal fund trying to run, implying that the Chinese govt didn’t just want to get rid of the FUND, but to make an example of the ringleaders, it could be the case that the Chinese would be willing to dicker for Zen, e.g. allowing Zen to exit China to Rome if (and only if?) Rome keeps him on a very short leash (e.g. tantamount to house arrest?) I don’t know how you could enforce that, but here his age may play into it.
Praying for Cardinal Zen, of course.
This week in the collection basket, I’m writing a note: No more money until his brother priests and bishops and the Vatican move heaven and earth for Cardinal Zen’s release. NOT ONE RED PENNY!
Oh boy, not to worry, the Vatican is “watching it closely”. Phew.
OK. I see he’s been released….So disregard my last comment.
Still praying, though… (Wait…..CCP let’s people out on bail?!?)
China. China. China.
Why are we bothering with Ukraine?!? It makes zero sense. Deal with China and the rest of the world will settle down. Russia will back off, Cardinal Zen would not have been arrested. And what’s happening in Yemen? Oil prices, inflation….But we need a strong US President, not a Democrat.
There was an statement from the Vatican. It says “we are worried and following the situation”. Strong words of support!
May God reward him! We will be praying for him! It’s so horrible to think about.
Don’t think that wouldn’t happen in the US of A if the decline into a ‘progressive’ paradise continues unchecked. Though, to be honest, I think there are very few “downtown’ who would resist the urge to ‘go along to get along’.
Dealing with the ‘progressives’ is like trying to figure out how to wrestle an enraged wolf while you’re hanging on to his head by the ears…
While Communist China Expands Its Threat To The Globe, DC Is Still Acting Like It’s 1991, by Christian Whiton.
May 13, 2022
The article begins:
Can you imagine living in mortal fear of a 90-year-old man who preaches peace and love? If so, you know what it is like to be a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party. On Wednesday, communist authorities in Hong Kong arrested Cardinal Joseph Zen on a phony “national security” charge.
Zen’s immediate offense was his alleged involvement in a dissolved fund to defend those harmed by the ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. His real crime is his unwillingness to overlook Beijing’s broken promises about establishing democracy with universal suffrage in Hong Kong—a promise it made to get the former colony back from the gullible British.
Perhaps the Vatican was a little irritated. The cash flow from the McCarrick deal is probably very much needed still, and issues like that might begin to imperil the revenue stream. Perhaps ironically Cardinal Zen as a young Salesian priest was the first to celebrate a New Order in mainland China, as until then the PRC used the liturgy as of 1949. Since then original Taiwanese published New Order Roman missals have largely displaced the old Mass in Patriotic Association churches. At least Cardinal Zen is free again.