Joseph Zen
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Joseph Ze-kiun Zen (陳日君; born January 13, 1932), is the bishop of Hong Kong's Catholic church. He is famous for his outspoken disposition.
When he was young, the abbey that he was living in was bombed by the Communists. After that, he fled to Hong Kong from Shanghai. He became a priest in 1961. Since 1973, he is teaching in the Holy Spirit Seminary College of Hong Kong. He became the Provincial Superior of Salesians (Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) in 1978 but he resigned in 1983. He was a lecturer in the Seminaries in China (underground, not recognized by the Chinese Government) between 1989 to 1996. He was appointed as the coadjutor Bishop of Hong Kong in 1996 by Pope John Paul II. After the pope canonized some priests who died during the Boxer Rebellion, Zen said that the priests were innocent and great and the boxers should be punlish. This angered the Chinese Government and he was banned from visiting mainland China for six years. He has been especially critical of Beijing's response to the Falun Gong spiritualist movement, which China's leaders have outlawed for "trying to overthrow" the Communist Party. Every time the Government requesting the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to re-interpret the Basic Law, he criticized the Government and mainland China. Just a few days before the death of his predecessor, John Cardinal Wu, when a television station made a interview with him, he crticised the Government for "breaking up so many families".
After he succeeded as bishop of Hong Kong on September 23, 2002, he led the Diocese in voicing out their reservations about the proposed anti-subversion laws, required under Article 23 of the Basic Law. It was worried that these laws, if enacted without a thorough consultation process including a "white bill", could easily lead to violations of basic civil rights in future. The Diocese also expressed her concern over the Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, about to be passed by the Legislative Council. Once enacted, the new legislation would likely play down the role of the Church in running Catholic schools and in promoting Catholic education. On July 1, 2003, he took part in a prayer gathering at Victoria Park before the mass protest began. Many Catholics and Christians attended the demonstration.
On May 3, 2004, he visited mainland China, the first time since 1998 and the he was first bishop of Hong Kong to visit China since the handover in 1997.
However on July 1, 2004, again, he attended a prayer gathering at Victoria Park before the second July 1 protest, but he himself didn't take part in the demonstration. Still, many Catholics joined thousands of other citizens in the anti-government march.
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He was supposed to be the secret cardinal appointed by Pope John Paul II, but since it was not announced after the death of the pope, the answer remains a secret and no one knew whether who was the secret cardinal, and Zen himself said he was not the secret cardinal.
On June 5, 2005, Zen announced that if the Legislative Council pass the donation to support the schools to create incorporated management committees on July 8, 2005, he would appeal against the decision to the court.
Quotes
- "Don't wish to be slaves of powerful people."(唔好甘心做強權者嘅奴隸)--Vitoria Park, Hong Kong, July 1, 2003
External links
| Preceded by: John Cardinal Wu | Bishop of Hong Kong 2002– | Succeeded by: current incumbent |