Hong Kong Cardinal Praises Beijing for Religious Freedom, Ridicules Suffering of Precedessor Zen
The Cardinal’s outspoken predecessor, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93, always said the opposite. He has experienced at the hands of the Hong Kong authorities persecution including being convicted in 2022 for failing to register a fund to support pro-democracy protestors in a trial widely viewed as unjust and politically motivated.
However, Cardinal Chow believes that Caridnal Zen “has not been as harshly treated as the Western media would imply.”
“Not one day was he imprisoned, not one day was he under house arrest,” he said, omitting the fact that this is the usual fate of Catholic clergy in mainland China.
A criminal trial is a punishment in itself and Cardinal Zen’s passport is still confiscated.
Cardinal Chow admitted that he is playing a part in the Vatican’s secret agreement of 2018.
"The Chinese government takes the Catholic Church seriously and tries to understand how it works and what it believes. It even gets officials to study canon law, philosophy, and theology. The government is very well informed."
The national security law enacted in 2020 requires from priests in Hong Kong to break the seal of confession if they suspect a “crime of treason”. Non-compliance is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Catholic priests have also been threatened with prosecution for preaching “seditious” homilies, and the curriculum of religious schools has been changed — in collaboration with the Diocese of Hong Kong — to achieve the sinicization of religion, incorporating socialist values into the Church’s teachings and diminishing the papacy.
Furthermore, since 2020, Hong Kong authorities have arrested and charged dozens of pro-democracy protestors, including Catholic journalist Jimmy Lai.
Picture: Stephen Chow © Mazur CC BY-NC-ND, #newsMawxuldkpb