Joseph Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong

Pope Benedict has proclaimed a number of new cardinals, including Joseph Zen of Hong Kong. The following are a couple of excerpts from a recent interview with Zen. He sounds pretty straightup legit; this is not someone who plays around with the reality of the Church in mainland China.

"For some time the Church has had a social doctrine, and especially since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has taken a great deal of interest in social issues. We have a great treasury of social teachings that shed light on Hong Kong’s new political situation. Consequently, almost without having planned, I have on various occasions expressed my critical opinion on local and central government matters that I felt required my intervention.

"As a result I have become something of a symbol of the freedom of speech that must be preserved in Hong Kong. We must make a balance sheet of my critical involvement in society and towards politics. I must say that we have done well to intervene. It was opportune and necessary. We have simply acted in line with the doctrine of the Church according to the wishes of the Holy See and in perfect accord with the Cardinal and Bishop John Tong. I do not regret my interventions. Also the Diocesan Synod has sanctioned our duty to speak out, to intervene critically in social issues, to express a prophetic role in society. I must say that this is not a pleasant thing, because when one intervenes to defend freedom and human rights, there are polemics, and this does not please some people. This is something that we take into account ahead of time. The criticisms that we have received do not scare me; what we have said publicly in criticism of those in power we had to say, and I think that the majority of the faithful agree with me."

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"Above all, the Holy See must not forget to be firm. Beijing perhaps has a few illusions that the Holy See sooner or later might surrender and yield on some principles. But the Holy See cannot surrender; it is not possible to "sell" the rights of the Church. In this historical phase, Beijing is not showing much interest in having a treaty with the Roman Church."