Pope ‘prefers to avoid support for dissident clergymen’ says former Hong Kong cardinal after Vatican asks Chinese bishops to stand down
Joseph Zen accuses Holy See of ‘selling out the Catholic Church in China’, as he reveals details of confidential meeting with pontiff
Pope Francis has looked into the forced retirement of a so-called underground bishop in mainland China and suggested he would not push the Vatican to support a clergyman who is a dissident in their own country, according to retired Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.
Zen, who recently had a private talk with the pontiff, said Pope Francis did not want “another Mindszenty case”, a reference to a campaigning Hungarian priest of the 20th century.
He added that the Vatican was “selling out the Catholic Church in China”.
The talk was held before news of that request broke.
“Many different versions of the facts and interpretations are creating confusion among the people,” Zen wrote in his post.