Vatican must push for more religious freedom in China, says cardinal
18-06-2009
ROME (CNS) -- Too much importance is being given to establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China and not enough is being done to push for greater religious freedom on the mainland, said retired Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.
Diplomatic relations "alone do not rectify everything. In fact sometimes they can deceive by giving the false impression that religious freedom exists," he told the Rome-based agency AsiaNews.
"The most important thing is religious freedom," he said, which diplomatic relations can foster, but in no way guarantee.
"Currently the establishment of diplomatic ties appears to be improbable," he said.
The cardinal, who retired this year as head of the Hong Kong diocese, made his remarks in a lengthy interview with AsiaNews.
Excerpts were published on the agency's website June 16 and the entire interview was to appear in its monthly magazine in August-September.
Cardinal Zen said the Catholic Church in China and the Vatican should stop compromising with the Chinese government and start implementing the guidelines Pope Benedict XVI set out in his 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20090617.htm