Emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong Receives Medal for Fighting Communism
01/30/2019 Washington DC (International Christian Concern) – Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, received the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom from Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) for his work in opposition to communism and tyranny at a ceremony in DC on Monday.
Based on the foundation’s website, the medal is awarded each year to those individuals and institutions who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to freedom, democracy, opposition to communism, and all other forms of tyranny.
Previous laureates include Pope St. John Paul II, Romania’s Bishop Laszlo Tokes, Vietnamese priest Nguyen Van Ly and Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng.
VOC executive director Marion Smith told UCA News before the ceremony that Cardinal Zen had “given voice to those denied religious liberty and has opposed the collusion of the Vatican and Chinese Communist Party on the matter of ecclesiastical appointments.”
Calling him as the “new conscience of Hong Kong” and a vocal proponent of human rights in Hong Kong and mainland China, VOC praises Zen for remaining “an influential voice for freedom in China and has led pro-democracy protests and demonstrations in Hong Kong since 2002.”
Cardinal Zen is known for his effort to stop the Vatican from signing the provisional deal on the appointment of bishops, calling it a “deal with the devil.” However, the Holy See still went ahead and signed the controversial deal.
Zen told Radio Free Asia after the ceremony that he met with Pope Francis in Rome this month for half an hour, during which time “he listened to me attentively,” but the Holy See had not replied to repeated letters in which he had expressed concern over the provisional agreement to appoint bishops.
“They’re making their own judgement on matters that I disagree with. We Catholics are praying for [the pope]. With God’s blessings, we pray he won’t make mistakes,” he said.
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