Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, speaks at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, Nov. 18, 2014. / Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Hong Kong, China, May 11, 2022 / 06:32 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen has been arrested by the authorities in Hong Kong, according to local media reports.
The 90-year-old former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong was reportedly detained in his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pro-democracy protestors to pay their legal fees.
The Standard newspaper reported that the trustees were arrested on Wednesday evening local time, according to sources.
The fund, which was founded in 2019, disbanded last year after the national security police ordered it to share operational details, the newspaper said.
Zen, who stood down as Hong Kong bishop in 2009, is an outspoken supporter of the pro-democracy movement.
In 2020, a sweeping National Security Law came into force, criminalizing previously protected civil liberties under the headings of “sedition“ and “foreign collusion.”
Before the law’s implementation, many Catholics, including Zen, warned that it could be used to silence the Church in Hong Kong.
Zen’s arrest will pose a dilemma for the Vatican, which has shied away from public criticism of the crackdown in Hong Kong.
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, said in June 2021 that he was not convinced that speaking out on the situation in Hong Kong would make a difference.
Benedict Rogers, a British human rights activist, deplored the arrests.
Rogers, the founder of the NGO Hong Kong Watch and a convert to Catholicism, said: “We condemn the arrests of these activists whose supposed ‘crime’ was funding legal aid for pro-democracy protestors back in 2019.”
“Today’s arrests signal beyond a doubt that Beijing intends to intensify its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.”
“We urge the international community to shine a light on this brutal crackdown and call for the immediate release of these activists.”
Earlier this week, John Lee was named as Hong Kong’s next chief executive, succeeding Carrie Lam, who held the post from 2017. Both Lee and Lam are baptized Catholics.
More to follow.
