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13-June-2007 — EWTNews Feature
Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong Meets with U.S. President George W. Bush

By Raymond Arroyo

Washington D.C., June 13, 2007 (EWTNews).- EWTNews has learned that Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Archbishop of Hong Kong and an outspoken advocate of religious freedom, met privately with President George W. Bush at the White House on May 31st. According to Church sources in the US and China, the meeting was held in the President’s private residence at the White House. No details of the meeting have been released and it was not on the president’s official schedule. Our sources tell us, however, that Cardinal Zen discussed the state of the Church in China, the problem of the government run Catholic Patriotic Association, and the need for religious freedom.

The meeting comes at a moment when the relationship between the Vatican and Beijing is tense. The recent appointment of Catholic bishops by Beijing authorities without Vatican approval has soured relations. Those loyal to the Pope have been subjected to harassment and outright persecution for their allegiance. At present five Chinese Catholic bishops are in prison, and others remain under house arrest.

As the Archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Zen enjoys a freedom that many of his fellow clergy in mainland China do not. He has used that freedom to repeatedly give voice to their plight and is in many ways regarded as the spiritual leader of the pro-democracy movement in China.

For weeks now, the Vatican has been promising a papal letter directed toward Catholics in China. The letter will reportedly call on Chinese officials to recognize the religious freedom of Catholics in the country, and defend the Pope’s right to appoint his own bishops to the Chinese Church.

In early June Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said that the letter was “approved by the Holy Father” and in the midst of being translated. No release date has been set.

Cardinal Zen’s meeting with President Bush is not unprecedented. In 2006 Bush hosted a meeting with leaders of the Christian “house church” movement and has long been attentive to religious persecution around the world.

Just this past week in Prague the President said he was instructing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to have every US ambassador in “un-free nations” meet with “activists for democracy”, and those who “demand human rights.”

Cardinal Zen’s visit with President Bush was part of a three week trip to North America that took him to 14 cities. (Raymond Arroyo)