Cardinal Joseph Zen hopes that the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be a “powerful intercessor in heaven” for the Catholic Church in China in a reflection posted on his blog on 3 January.
Zen remembered Benedict XVI as a “great defender of the truth” who took “extraordinary” actions to support the Church in China, despite many setbacks.
“As a member of the Chinese Church, I am immensely grateful to Pope Benedict for things he has done that he did not do for other Churches,” Zen wrote.
The Hong Kong cardinal recalled in particular Benedict XVI’s 2007 Letter to China, which Zen called “a masterpiece of balance between the lucidity of Catholic ecclesiological doctrine and humble understanding with respect to civil authority.”
Zen also criticized “errors” in the Chinese translation of Benedict’s letter, which he said he believed contained “biased quotations against the obvious sense of the letter.”
“Another extraordinary thing he did for the Church in China is the establishment of a powerful commission to take care of the affairs of the Church in China; unfortunately under the new president of said commission it has been made to disappear quietly without even a word of respectful farewell,” the cardinal added.
The former Hong Kong Bishop has got permission to attend the funeral of the former pope on 5 January. So the 90-year-old cardinal will leave Hong Kong for five days.