Sandro Magister reminds us that five of the nine citizens of Hong Kong sentenced to prison on April 16 are Catholics:
(s.m.) On Friday April 16, in Hong Kong, nine top defenders of freedom were sentenced and put in prison. Five of them are Catholics. Father Gianni Criveller of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), a professor of theology who spent twenty-seven years in China, has met them in person and on the very day of their entry into prison sketched a vibrant profile of them on “Mondo e Missione,” the magazine of the PIME, and on “UCA News,” a Catholic outlet with a focus on Asia.
With the author’s permission, his text is reproduced below almost in its entirety. But with an important preface.
As is well known, Hong Kong is taboo for the Holy See. Not a word has ever come from Pope Francis and the top brass of the Catholic Church in defense of those who are fighting for its freedom. All this to keep from opposing the Chinese regime in any way, even to the point of leaving the city without a bishop, for fear that the appointment could be distasteful in the least to Beijing.
On this silence, Criveller published in “Mondo e Missione” a few days ago this commentary of his:
> Perché il Vaticano tace su Cina e Hong Kong?
And here is his portrait of the five “confessors” of faith and freedom.
*
HONG KONG’S FREEDOM FIGHTERS INCLUDING FIVE CATHOLICS ARE THROWN INTO PRISON
by Gianni Criveller
Hong Kong, as we have known it, is no longer, and April 16 was one of the saddest days, since freedom died in the former British colony on July 1, 2020. Nine leaders of the democratic opposition were sentenced after being convicted of illegal assembly. […]
The activists were not convicted of violent acts. On Aug. 31, 2019, they allegedly organized a march of 1.7 million people, peaceful but unauthorized. At that time there was no national security law. The condemned people actually contained and moderated this major spontaneous demonstration. They did their utmost to maintain calm and order. They are not reckless activists but political leaders and protagonists in public life for decades. The youngest is 64, the oldest 82. They are respected by most of the population.
I would like to underline the ecclesial dimension of this ongoing tragedy. Five of those who have been incarcerated are Catholics.
Martin Lee, the father of Hong Kong democracy, is a lawyer and former parliamentarian. He founded the Democratic Party, which has the majority support of the population, and is one of the authors of the Basic Law, the constitutional charter of the city. For Catholics, he is a familiar figure, a believer who every morning attends Mass in the central church of St. Joseph and serves there as a reader. For decades, he has been one of the diocese’s most appreciated advisers, often invited to speak to priests, deacons and laity on important issues of current affairs. […]
These condemnations wound the heart of the Church. To those who say that Hong Kong Catholics are divided, I reply that they are not when Martin Lee, a much-loved brother, has to suffer for his ideals. For me he is a “good, meek, wise, innocent man, and above all a dear friend” (Pope Paul VI at the funeral of his friend Aldo Moro, killed by Italian Red Brigades). I am relieved that his sentence has been suspended, but I am not less indignant that a meek and valiant man of law and faith is treated like this at the age of 82.
Hong Kong’s Catholic chief executive Carrie Lam had assured citizens that the draconian national security law – enforced by Beijing last July – would only affect troublemaker agitators. How untrue.
Go here to read the rest. The silence of the Vatican in regard to the actions of the Chinese government is an example of how much concern this Pontificate has for faithful Catholics. When the history of this Papacy is written, a fiery pen indeed will be needed in regard to this policy of ignoble appeasement of the worst regime on this planet.
This Vatican is poison. It is filled with criminals and accessories to criminals. In other words, a mob.
I spent a day or so in Hong Kong during the Korean conflict. (Bought a tailor made cashmere “white sport coat” and custom gabardine slacks for a few bucks) To this day, no other city has impressed me with so much “life” and variety (East meets West) going on. Who then would have ever believes that the West would so covertly assist the ChiComs in their suppression of freedom and faith?
Not the worst regime on the planet, a title which goes to North Korea. The most threatening of the bad regimes on the planet.
Art: do you mean the predatory, homosexual cultists currently occupying the Vatican? Actually, God is merciful whenever he allows clarity, and that we have with this carbuncle, Francis. It helps our yes mean yes and no mean no. Personally, I’m still waiting for one or more of the men who claim to be an actual, Catholic Bishop to explain to me para. 161 of Envangelli Guadium where Francis tells the Catholic world that the first and greatest Commandment is to love your neighbor as Christ loved us. Mark 12: 28-31 refutes Francis, and St. Paul in Galatians 1:8 tells us what to think of someone who contradicts the Gospel. (I’m guessing St. Paul would have no problem admonishing the carbuncle). So, while I appreciate these updates into the evil that currently resides in Rome, the bigger issue for me is the almost complete lack of faithfulness of his brother “Bishops” who remain mute.
I would have to say the worst regime because they are a manipulative regime- to their people and to the rest of the world.
increasingly, when I think China, I think Dragon. When I think Dragon, I think Revelation. I wonder if the Church is about to flee into the wilderness. But where, oh, where, is the place prepared for Her, that we may follow?