The former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong is a well-known supporter of the democracy movement. According to media reports, he has now been arrested by the National Security Police.
Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has apparently been arrested. According to local newspapers, the 90-year-old former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong and known supporters of the democracy movement on Wednesday evening (local time) by the National Security Police, as reported by Kathpress. A total of five people are said to have been arrested.
Those arrested, like Zen, were involved as trustees in managing a now-defunct humanitarian fund for demonstrators in the 2019 anti-Beijing pro-democracy protests. According to media reports, they are accused of “secret collusion with foreign forces”. According to Archyde.com In addition to Zen, it is regarding the lawyer Margaret Ng, the pop singer Denise Ho, the former MP Cyd Ho and the cultural scientist Hui Po-keung.
Vatican concerned
The Vatican said it was concerned regarding the arrest of the Hong Kong cardinal. “The Holy See has read with concern the news of Cardinal Zen’s arrest and is following the evolution of the situation with the utmost attention,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Wednesday.
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the arrests “shocking”. “The arrest of a 90-year-old cardinal for his peaceful activities is a shocking new low for Hong Kong and illustrates the human rights free fall in the city over the past two years,” HRW contributor Maya Wang told the Hong Kong Free Press portal Kathpress reports.
It said: “The arrests, which follow the Chinese government’s appointment of former security chief John Lee as the city’s head of government, are an ominous sign that the crackdown in Hong Kong will escalate.” The former security minister, John Lee, who was loyal to China, was appointed Hong Kong’s new head of government on Sunday (May 8).
critics of the Chinese government
Cardinal Zen is one of the most influential Catholic Church representatives in Asia. Beyond his tenure, the Salesian of Don Bosco is one of the prominent critics of the Chinese government and its religious policy, and recently increasingly of the Vatican and its China policy.
In the difficult dialogue between the Vatican and the Chinese leadership in Beijing, Zen warned once more and once more that Rome would not make too many concessions to the untrustworthy communist regime. He even spoke several times of “treason” and a “sell-out” of the interests of China’s Catholics.
way of life
Zen comes from the diocese of Shanghai, where he was born on January 13, 1932 as the son of a Christian tea merchant. He grew up in very poor circumstances and joined the Salesian order as a young man. Among other things, he studied at the religious colleges in Turin and Rome. In Italy, Zen also experienced the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which was formative for him.
From 1989 to 1996 he taught philosophy and sacramental theology at various Chinese seminars, including one in Shanghai. Then Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) appointed the theologian as coadjutor in Hong Kong to support the local bishop. In 2002, Zen moved to the episcopal seat of the seven million metropolis with its approximately 350,000 Catholics – an office that he held until 2009.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI made him a member of the College of Cardinals. In 2008, Zen wrote the meditations for the Good Friday Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on behalf of the Pope; in it he also addressed the oppression of Christians in China.
(APA)
