Cardinal Zen Appeals to the Pope: Please Send a Faithful Shepherd to Hong Kong

The outspoken Chinese cardinal tells the Register why he traveled to the Vatican last week in hopes of meeting the Pope, and discusses the grave problems the Church continues to face in Hong Kong and the rest of China.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun traveled to the Vatican again last week, unsuccessfully seeking an audience with Pope Francis.

Had he been granted an audience, the 88-year-old Chinese cardinal — who himself served as Hong Kong’s bishop from 2002 until his retirement as a bishop in 2009 —intended to personally deliver a letter urging the Holy Father to appoint a new bishop for the troubled city of Hong Kong.

That episcopal see has been vacant since the death of Bishop Michael Yeung in January 2019. Since then Cardinal John Tong, Bishop Yueng’s immediate predecessor, has been serving as the diocese’s apostolic administrator.

In this interview — which was conducted Sept. 26, after he failed to get an audience with the Pope, and aired Sept. 28 on EWTN News Nightly — Cardinal Zen discusses the tense political situation in the city, where recent efforts by the communist regime to restrict the former British colony’s freedoms have been countered by a pushback from a deeply committed pro-democracy movement.

He also spoke about U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s impending Vatican visit, and Pompeo’s call earlier this month for the Vatican to speak out publicly against the Chinese government’s continuing suppression of religious freedom and human rights.

And he detailed his continuing concerns about pastoral guidelines issued by the Vatican last year with respect to the government’s requirement that clergy sign a civil registration document declaring their acceptance of the autonomy and self-administration of the local Church, independent of Rome’s authority. Such civil registration of Catholic clergy with the government-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA).......

Murdoch’s news.com.au quotes rumors from Jim Acosta!

3 Oct: news.com.au: White House officials have ‘serious concerns’ over President Trump’s COVID-19 symptoms
White House officials are said to be extremely worried about Donald Trump’s health, with claims his virus symptoms are “serious”.
by Victoria Craw and Rebekah Scanlan
US media reported Donald Trump is experiencing “mild” cold-like symptoms after announcing both he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive to COVID-19 in the early hours of Friday morning, local time.

But CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta has shared a series of tweets in the last few minutes claiming The President’s condition is “serious
“Trump adviser said there is reason for concern about Trump’s health tonight,” he wrote.
“‘This is serious’, the source said.
“The source went on to describe Trump as very tired, very fatigued, and having some trouble breathing. WH officials continue to say Trump will be fine.”
In an earlier tweet, Mr Acosta said officials had “serious concerns” about Mr Trump, adding his symptoms were allegedly “worse than those of the First Lady”...
While another CNN reporter, Ana Cabrera shared a tweet that claimed Mr Trump was “having some trouble breathing” after the claim was reportedly made on air...

However the editor in chief of China’s state run newspaper, the Global Times, Hu Xijin, blamed the Trumps for not taking the virus seriously.
Taking to Twitter, Hu wrote: “President Trump and the First Lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19.
“The news shows the severity of the US’s pandemic situation.
“It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his re-election.”...
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/president-trump-mulls-tv-address-while-suffering-coldlike-coronavirus-symptoms/news-story/d65f4e6ca3c76ca3c8ae3e5dff289795

the writers of the above:

Twitter: Victoria Craw: Foreign editor for Australia’s largest news website
@newscomauHQ. Kiwi (New Zealander) in London via Sydney.

Twitter: Rebekah Scanlan: Lifestyle Editor @newscomauhq #TheBeautyDiary columnist. Gym enthusiast. Wine lover. Burner.

***Russian meddling is the problem!

2 Oct: NPR: Reaction To Trump’s Infection: Sympathy In South Korea, Some Schadenfreude In China
by Anthony Kuhn
Chinese social media users mocked Trump, but the news was reported without commentary by state-run media...
In the hours after the news broke about Trump’s infection, it was the most searched topic on Weibo, China’s biggest microblogging platform. Compilations of jokes and posts mocking Trump made the rounds on WeChat, a popular messaging platform. One read: “Trump: ‘I will soon conquer the coronavirus!’ American people: ‘Yes, but what are we supposed to do?’ Trump: ‘The coronavirus can be effectively treated by injecting yourself with disinfectant.’ American people: ‘Time for you to try that, Mr. President.’”...

One of the few public voices commenting on Trump’s infection was that of Hu Xijin, editor of the jingoistic Global Times tabloid. “President Trump and the first lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19,” Hu said in a post on Twitter, which was later deleted. Twitter is blocked in China but used by the government and state-run media to reach foreign audiences...

The Trump administration has claimed that China is the most active among nations trying to interfere in upcoming presidential elections. But a Department of Homeland Security official cast doubt on that narrative last month, when he filed a whistleblower complaint, saying he was told to highlight the threat of Chinese and Iranian interference, while downplaying ***Russian meddling.
https://www.npr.org/sections/latest-updates-trump-covid-19-results/2020/10/02/919483109/reaction-to-trumps-infection-sympathy-in-south-korea-schadenfreude-in-china

virtually all FakeNewsMSM are in the tank for China:

2 Oct: UK Independent: Chinese state-run newspaper mocks Trump for contracting coronavirus
Hu Xijin claims US president has ‘paid the price for his gamble to play down’ Covid-19
by James Crump
In articles earlier in the year, the Global Times called the US a “barbaric and greedy” country that “doesn’t care about humanitarianism” and claimed that “the US government has failed its people and also failed the world”.

Conversely, Mr Trump has repeatedly attempted to blame the country for the virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, and has repeatedly referred to it as the “China virus” and “Wuhan flu”.

Concerns have been raised that the president using the phrases could lead to a rise of harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to NBC News...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-china-hu-xijin-global-times-donald-trump-b747232.html

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