Cardinal's action mars Sino-Vatican ties, says mainland church leader
A leader of the mainland's official Catholic church has hit out at Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun for marching in Sunday's democracy rally, saying his participation would not help Sino-Vatican relations.
Liu Bainian , a deputy chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said the Vatican would not win Beijing's trust if it supported clerics such as Cardinal Zen, whose actions were not conducive to Hong Kong's stability.
Cardinal Zen's behaviour had caused concern among some 'public figures' - mostly from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - about the consequences of having mainland bishops appointed by the Holy See, Mr Liu said.
His criticism came a day after the head of Hong Kong's Catholic diocese led tens of thousands of people in the annual march. It also came two days after Pope Benedict sent a letter to China's Catholics, a move intended to improve troubled relations between the Vatican and Beijing.
Cardinal Zen's participation was seen as particularly significant as it was the first time he had joined a July 1 rally and it was taking place on the 10th anniversary of the handover.
'I received a lot of phone calls [on Sunday] and some asked why someone from the Catholic Church would take to the streets when everybody in China and Hong Kong was celebrating the handover,' Mr Liu said. 'They said that if bishops in China were appointed by the Vatican, China's Catholic Church would be over, and they would not agree to let this happen.