Cardinal: “Contacts With Vatican Disastrous”, “There Is No Hope”
Speaking about the history of his contacts with the Vatican, he calls them "simply disastrous.“
Zen calls the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Cardinal Josef Tomko (95), a “very balanced man.”
However, his successor, the current Napoli Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe was “no good,” and his successor, Cardinal Ivan Dias (+1917) “even worse.”
A Group Holds the Power – Benedict XVI Was an Outsider
Zen believes that “there is a group in the Holy See” that holds the power while, for instance, Benedict XVI and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, “were considered as outsiders” because they didnt belong to the group,
“In the Secretary of State, those who had the real power were not the highest officials, but those down below them.”
Zen explains that the current Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, sabotaged already as an under-secretary during Benedict's pontificate Benedict's efforts and his negotiations with China.
So Zen confronted Benedict, “You made me a Cardinal. You said that I should help you with the Church in China. But what can I do? Nothing! Nothing. They have the power. And you don’t say anything. You don’t help me, how can I help you?”
Then Francis succeeded Benedict. According to Zen he has “low respect for his predecessors” and "is shutting down everything done by John Paul II and by Pope Benedict.”
Zen says that Francis gives “lip service” claiming to be in continuity with his predecessors, but this is “an insult.”
China Agreement Was Rejected By Benedict XVI
Cardinal Zen reveals that Parolin and Dias prepared a deal with the Chinese Communists already in 2010. According to him, Benedict said no and “could not sign the agreement.” However, he has no evidence for this, “I think the one agreement signed now must be exactly that one, which Pope Benedict refused to sign.”
Zen has still not seen the 2018 agreement, “I am one of the two living Chinese Cardinals and I cannot have a view of that agreement, and I’ve been three times to Rome” (January 2018, October 2018, June 2019).
Nevertheless, Zen believes that he has “personally wonderful relations” with Francis “even now” although Francis doesn't answer his letters, and does the contrary of what Zen suggests.
Zen identifies three terrible issues: a secret agreement, the legitimisation of the seven excommunicated bishops, and lastly the killing of the Chinese underground Church.
The Cardinal believes that the Secretary of State Parolin is manipulating Francis, “It’s a real mystery how a man of the Church, given all his knowledge of China, of the Communists, could do such a thing as he’s doing now? The only explanation is not faith. It’s a diplomatic success. Vainglory.“
Zen concludes the interview by saying, “There’s no hope, no hope at all. No hope.”
