By Matters India Reporter
Myanmar, May 15, 2022: Cardinal Charles Bo, head of the Catholic Church in Asia, has urged the international community to monitor the situation in Hong Kong and speak out for freedom and justice.
The president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences made the call May 14 while expressing his “profound concern” over the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was the bishop of Hong Kong diocese during 2002-2009.
The 90-year-old Cardinal Zen was detained May 11 by Hong Kong authorities, especially the police section set up to monitor China’s national security. He was later released on bail, according to reports circulated via social media by local journalists.
Cardinal Bo, who also heads the Church in Myanmar, also expressed his concern about the situation for human rights and threats to religious freedom in Hong Kong.
“For the people of Hong Kong it is now increasingly difficult to speak out freely, so those of us outside Hong Kong who have a voice must use it on their behalf, and devote our prayers and efforts to showing solidarity with and support for them, in the hope that one day their freedoms will be restored,” the Asian Church leader urges.
He called on Catholics and the wider Christian community around the world to pray for Hong Kong, and I urge the international community to continue to monitor the situation and speak out for freedom and justice, he said in a press statement.
The Asian Church leader observed that Hong Kong used to be one of freest and most open cities in the region. “Today, it has been transformed into a police state. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and academic freedom have all been dismantled,” Cardinal Bo bemoans.
He sees “early signs that freedom of religion or belief, a human right set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Hong Kong is a party, is threatened.”
At the same time, propaganda attacks have been launched recently against the Church in pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong, and of growing self-censorship among religious leaders due to the circumstances.
“To see a city that was a beacon for freedom, including religious freedom, move so radically and swiftly down a much darker and more repressive path is heart-breaking. To see a government in China break its promises made in an international treaty, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, so repeatedly and blatantly, is appalling,” Cardinal Bo laments.
He says Cardinal Zen was arrested and faces charges simply because he served as a trustee of a fund which provided legal aid to activists facing court cases. “In any system where the rule of law exists, providing assistance to help people facing prosecution meet their legal fees is a proper and accepted right. How can it be a crime to help accused persons have legal defence and representation?” he asks.
Cardinal Bo, who is also the Archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar, points out that the Church on May 24 celebrates the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China and the Feast of Mary Help of Christians and, for China.
He recalled his appeal a year ago to turn the event into a Week of Prayer each year, and “I was heartened when a group of lay Catholics around the world took up my invitation and established the Global Week of Prayer for China.”
The FABC present urges Christians of all traditions across the world to pray for Hong Kong especially, and the Church in China, as well as the Uyghurs, Tibetans and others facing persecution in China, during the Week of Prayer, .
He also wants Christians to pray especially for Cardinal Zen on that to Mary Help of Christians. “Where possible, churches might consider a votive Mass on this day,” he suggests.