Inmates, like Zen, were involved as trustees in managing a now-defunct humanitarian fund for protesters in the 2019 anti-Beijing pro-democracy protests. According to media reports, they were accused of “secret collusion with foreign forces.” “.
According to police, two men and two women aged between 45 and 90 were arrested. Reuters previously reported that a total of five people were arrested, along with Zen, lawyer Margaret Ng, pop singer Denise Ho, former congressman Cyd Ho and cultural scientist Hui Po-keung.
The Vatican has expressed concern over the arrest of the Hong Kong cardinal. “The Holy See has read with concern the news of Cardinal Zen’s arrest and is following developments in the situation with the utmost attention,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Wednesday.
Cardinal Zen had repeatedly warned against the Vatican’s agreement with the Communist leadership in Beijing on the issue of bishop appointments, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) recalled in a broadcast. Zen complained that the signing pressured Chinese underground church believers to join the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
“The Vatican is silent about the Chinese government’s violations of religious freedom and human rights. The agreement not only paves the way for total control over Catholic Christians in China, but also represents a departure from all those persecuted for of their religion,” he added. he told the ISHR.
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 casualty for Hong Kong and illustrates the human rights freefall in the city over the past two years,” Maya Wang, an HRW contributor, told the Hong Kong Free Press. . Kathpress portal reports.
He 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 repression in Hong Kong will escalate.” Former Security Minister John Lee, who was loyal to China, was named Hong Kong’s new head of government on Sunday (May 8).
Cardinal Zen is one of the most influential representatives of the Catholic Church in Asia. In addition to his tenure, the Salesian monk 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 Chinese policy.
In the difficult dialogue between the Vatican and the Chinese leadership in Beijing, Zen repeatedly warned that Rome would not make too many concessions to the untrustworthy communist regime. He even spoke several times of “betrayal” and “selling” the interests of China’s Catholics.
Zen hails 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 precarious conditions and entered the Salesian order at a young age. Among other things, he studied at the religious colleges of Turin and Rome. In Italy, Zen also lived through the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which was formative for him.
From 1989 to 1996 he taught sacramental philosophy and theology at several Chinese seminaries, 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 metropolis of seven million with its approximately 350,000 Catholic-positions which he held until 2009.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI made him a member of the College of Cardinals. In 2008, on behalf of the Pope, Zen wrote the meditations of the Way of the Cross for Good Friday in the Coliseum; in it he also addressed the oppression of Christians in China.