Joseph Zen Ze-kiun

Joseph Zen, 2013.

Cardinal coat of arms.

Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun SDB ( Chinese  陳日君 , Pinyin Chén Rìjūn ; born January 13, 1932 in Shanghai , China ) is bishop emeritus of Hong Kong . He is the sixth Chinese and the second bishop of Hong Kong to be named cardinal.

Life

On February 11, 1961, as a Salesian of Don Bosco, he received the sacrament of ordination by the Archbishop of Turin , Maurilio Cardinal Fossati . In the summer of 1961, he acquired the licentiate in Catholic theology . In the summer of 1964 he received his doctorate in philosophy . Joseph Zen taught philosophy at a Salesian college from 1964 to 1970 and philosophy and theology at the Holy Spirit Seminary College in Hong Kong since 1971.

From 1978 to 1983 Zen was Provincial of the Salesian Province of Hong Kong , Macau , Taiwan and Mainland China , from 1984 to 1991 Dean of the Philosophical Department of Holy Spirit Seminary College, and from 1986 to 1989 Director of the Salesian Community of Aberdeen (Technical School). From 1989 to 1996 he also taught philosophy and theology in Chinese seminars at times.

On 13 September 1996 it appointed Pope John Paul II. To Coadjutor Bishop of Hong Kong. He received his episcopal ordination on December 9th of the same year by the Bishop of Hong Kong, John Baptist Cardinal Wu Cheng-chung ; Co-consecrators were the Archbishop of Tokyo , Peter Seiichi Cardinal Shirayanagi , and the Curia Archbishop and official of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , Charles Asa Schleck . His motto is: Ipsi cura est . On September 23, 2002, after the death of his predecessor, he became Bishop of Hong Kong.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted him in the consistory on March 24, 2006 as a cardinal priest with the titular church of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore a Tor Bella Monaca in the college of cardinals . Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun was a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments and of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples . His appointment was recognized worldwide both as a political issue and as a recognition of his work, as he appeared as a regime critic of the communist government of China and the city government of Hong Kong. Joseph Zen became known as a strong advocate of Hong Kong's democratic and religious citizenship interests. He has been banned from entering the country several times by the Chinese government. Cardinal Joseph Zen believes that the Vatican should make a change of strategy regarding the desired diplomatic relations with China. The Holy See should “not compromise” in order to achieve its goal. Cardinal Zen thinks that the Vatican has already accommodated the People's Republic of China on many points in the last few decades .

Hong Kong Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon was appointed Coadjutor Bishop for the Hong Kong Diocese and in support of Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun in January 2008. On April 15, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI. the resignation put forward by Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun for reasons of age. Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun was succeeded by his previous coadjutor, John Tong Hon.

Joseph Zen Ze-kiun is one of the signatories of a multilingual appeal by Carlo Maria Viganò on May 7, 2020 with the Latin title “Veritas liberabit vos!” ( Truth will set you free , according to Jn 8,32  EU ), which is published on the Internet portal Catholic.de of the German Bishops' Conference is called a "conglomerate of conspiracy myths and pseudoscience". It complains that under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rights and fundamental freedoms of many citizens are "disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted"; Public health should not become an alibi "to free civil authorities from their duty to act wisely for the common good". The text refers to growing doubts about the actual risk of infection from the coronavirus and describes the reporting of the pandemic as " alarmism ". The containment measures taken fostered the interference of "foreign powers" with serious social and political consequences, according to the text signed by Catholic clergy, journalists, doctors and lawyers. There are forces “interested in creating panic in the population” and promoting “the isolation of individuals” in order to be able to better manipulate and control them. ”This is“ the disturbing prelude to the creation of a world government that beyond any control ”. The German Bishops' Conference explained through its chairman Georg Bätzing that it assessed the pandemic fundamentally differently. Klaus Pfeffer , Vicar General of the Diocese of Essen, criticized the appeal for spreading “crude conspiracy theories without facts and evidence, combined with right-wing populist fighting rhetoric” and “confused theses that stir up fears, pursue black-and-white thinking, draw bad images of the enemy and promote togetherness poison our societies ”. That has nothing to do with Jesus Christ . The text was described by various media as absurd and the theses expressed as conspiracy theories .

Memberships

Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun was a member of the following institutions of the Roman Curia :

• Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments (since 2005)
• Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (since 2006)

Fonts

• Way of the Cross with Benedict XVI. at the Colosseum - Praying with the Holy Father. - Author of the stations: Joseph Zen Ze-kiun. Herder Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-451-29852-3 .
• Way of the Cross with Pope Benedict XVI , Catholic Truth Society 2009, ISBN 978-1860825712
• El camino de la vía dolorosa , Editorial San Pablo 2014, ISBN 978–9587152418
• with Aurelio Porfiri: L'agnello e il dragone: Dialoghi su Cina e Cristianesimo , Chorabooks 2017, ISBN 978–9887725527
• For Love of My People I Will Not Remain Silent: On the Situation of the Church in China , Ignatius Press San Francisco 2019, ISBN 978-1621643142 |

Web links

Commons : Joseph Zen Ze-kiun  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Zen Ze-Kiun, SDB, Joseph. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed October 23, 2016.
• Entry on Joseph Zen Ze-kiun on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on October 23, 2016.
• Bishop Joseph Zen on his view of the situation of the Catholic Church in China (September 2010)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cardinal Zen for hard line . ( Memento of October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Vatican Radio , January 26, 2007
2. ^ Rinuncia e successione del vescovo di Hong Kong (Cina). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , April 15, 2009, accessed May 11, 2019 (Italian). 
3. ↑ Call. In: APPEAL FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD. Retrieved May 10, 2020 (American English). 
4. ↑ Corona measures: Bishops spread conspiracy theories. In: tagesschau.de. May 9, 2020, accessed May 9, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Church appeal with conspiracy theories . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 11, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
6. ^ Bishops spread conspiracy theories . In: Tagesschau.de , May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
7. ^ Nomina di Membri della Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, February 2, 2005, accessed May 11, 2019 (Italian). 
8. ^ Nomina di Cardinali Membri dei Dicasteri della Curia Romana. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, May 6, 2006, accessed May 11, 2019 (Italian). 
9. ↑ Way of the Cross at the Colloseum (Meditation and Prayers) on vatican.va , accessed on May 13, 2020 (English).
10. ↑ "Way of the Cross at the Colloseum" on vatican.va , accessed on May 13, 2020 (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
John Baptist Cardinal Wu Cheng-chung	Bishop of Hong Kong 2002–2009	John Cardinal Tong Hon

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zen is the family name here, Joseph Ze-kiun is the first name.