Hong Kong, Feb. 22: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday named an outspoken China critic, Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen, as a cardinal, at a time when the Vatican is hoping to forge official ties with the Communist country, where millions of Roman Catholics worship illegally.
Bishop Zen, who was earlier banned from mainland China, is a vocal supporter of China’s underground Catholics. He is also an advocate for democracy in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory which allows direct elections only for some political posts. Bishop Zen also has been critical of the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government for allegedly interfering in local Catholic schools. However, Sino-Vatican relations scholar Beatrice Leung said the appointment of the 74-year-old Zen is a practical move by the church ahead of a possible resumption of ties.
"Among all the cardinals, who understands China issues with more depth than he does?" said Ms Leung, who teaches at Taiwan’s Wenzao Ursuline College.
"If China and the Vatican resume ties soon, the Chinese church has many problems to tackle, such as its relationship with the government, the secularisation of the church, the training of clergy. Whether bishop Zen is in Hong Kong or in Rome, he’s an asset to the church as a cardinal, as a chief adviser to the Pope," she said. One area of contention between Beijing and Vatican is the Pope’s authority to appoint bishops, which China views as interference in its internal affairs.
China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Chinese Communist party took power. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognise the Pope as a spiritual leader, but appoint their own priests and bishops.
Millions of Chinese, however, belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome. Those who meet in underground churches are frequently harassed, fined and sometimes sent to labour camps.
Analysts also said China is unlikely to react strongly — at least in public — to Zen’s selection for fear of alienating Catholics in former British colony Hong Kong, where the Roman Catholic Church is allowed to operate. Hong Kong enjoys civil liberties denied in mainland China. "Bishop Joseph Zen’s promotion to cardinal is a good thing for the tens of thousands of Catholics in Hong Kong. If Beijing reacts too strongly, it will lose popularity in Hong Kong," said China scholar James Sung, who teaches at the City University of Hong Kong. Vatican watcher John L. Allen Jr. said views on Zen in the Vatican are mixed.
"Some in the Vatican like Zen very much for his willingness to stand up to the Chinese on religious freedom issues, others worry that he will disrupt Vatican diplomatic efforts to establish formal relations with Beijing," said Allen, who writes for the National Catholic Reporter. (AP)
