Hong Kong allows outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen to attend Pope Francis' funeral

HONG KONG – Hong Kong's outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to permission the confederate Chinese metropolis to be Pope Francis' funeral successful Vatican City.

Zen, a 93-year-old retired bishop, near Hong Kong connected Wednesday nighttime aft applying astatine a tribunal to get backmost his passport, his caput told The Associated Press successful a substance connection connected Thursday. Authorities confiscated his passport aft his arguable arrest nether a Beijing-imposed nationalist information instrumentality successful 2022.

Zen is among the critics successful caller years who person said the Vatican’s statement with Chinese authorities connected the assignment of bishops betrays pro-Vatican Chinese Catholics. He has besides criticized Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the authoritative charged with negotiations with Beijing, arsenic a “man of small faith."

Parolin is considered 1 of the main contenders to be the adjacent pope, fixed his prominence successful the Catholic hierarchy.

On Tuesday, media reports said Zen had issued a critique of the Vatican, questioning wherefore pre-conclave meetings started arsenic aboriginal arsenic Tuesday. The AP could not independently verify the reports, but Zen reposted the reporters' posts astir his connection connected his X account.

His caput said Zen would instrumentality to Hong Kong aft the precocious pope’s funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday. But she was unsure astir his nonstop instrumentality date.

It was not the archetypal clip Zen had to spell done the city's tribunal to permission Hong Kong. In 2023, helium went done akin procedures to wage his respects to the precocious Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Zen was archetypal arrested successful 2022 connected suspicion of colluding with overseas forces nether the information law. His apprehension sent shockwaves done the Catholic assemblage astatine that time.

While Zen has not yet faced nationalist security-related charges, helium and 5 others were fined successful 2022 aft being recovered blameworthy of failing to registry a now-defunct money that aimed to assistance radical arrested successful wide 2019 pro-democracy protests successful Hong Kong. A proceeding connected his entreaty against the condemnation is scheduled for December.

Separately, Hong Kong cardinal Stephen Chow volition question to the Vatican for the conclave, the city's Catholic Social Communications Office said Thursday.

In 2023, a Beijing bishop who was installed by China's state-controlled Catholic religion arsenic an archbishop visited Hong Kong astatine the invitation of Chow. It was the first-ever authoritative sojourn by a Beijing bishop to the city. Experts astatine that clip said Chow's invitation was a symbolic motion that could fortify the fragile ties betwixt China and the Vatican.

Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties pursuing the Chinese Communist Party’s emergence to powerfulness and the expulsion of overseas priests. Since the interruption successful ties, Catholics successful China person been divided betwixt those who beryllium to an official, state-sanctioned religion and those successful an underground religion loyal to the pope. The Vatican recognizes members of some arsenic Catholics but claims the exclusive close to take bishops.

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