PopeWatch: Cardinal Zen

This pontificate has quite a few villains and few heroes.  In the latter category there is Cardinal Joseph Zen, the retired Cardinal of Hong Kong:

“Some say maybe the Holy Father thought it was better not to say [something], or some say he may have received some word from the Chinese Embassy in Italy.”

“It’s not an isolated episode. It’s already a long-standing policy of the Vatican not to offend the Chinese government.”

Cardinal Zen also repeated his misgivings about the secret deal between the Holy See and the communist government of China, noting that after the concordat was signed, circumstances for Catholics in China became much worse. Seven bishops of the schismatic Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association who had challenged Church doctrine were legitimized in the wake of the agreement, and even now, they show no sign of repentance or gratitude to Pope Francis, Zen said. 

“They went around singing triumph,” he said. “Now they are winners. They have been clever to follow the government.”

Because of the failings of these seven bishops and the fact that good underground Catholic bishops loyal to Rome were asked to step aside for two of them, Zen believes he is justified in saying, as he has said previously, that Pope Francis “is giving the sheep to the wolves.”

“If you knew those seven people, [you would ask] how could they become bishops? Two of them are not observing the law of celibacy[.] … Everybody knows. I may be a big sinner, but they are public sinners,” he said. “So it’s a scandal to make them bishops.”

Zen is even more distressed by the supplanting of the two faithful underground bishops by bishops from the Patriotic Association.

“It’s a betrayal of the real Church,” he declared.

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