Fact: Unlike the title of priest or Bishop, the rank of cardinal is not sacramental. Cardinals are primarily assistants and advisers to the Pope, and lay cardinals were permitted until 1918. Since then, with rare exception, only Bishops have been named cardinal. The Pope creates new cardinals by first naming them publicly, then elevating them at a consistory.
Fact: In cases where a Bishop’s life would be endangered, the Pope can name him a cardinal in pectore, keeping the name a secret in his heart. Pope John Paul II did so with long-imprisoned Bishop Kung Pin-Mei of Shanghai in 1979. The Pope revealed his secret cardinal in 1991, but only after Kung was finally released from prison and exiled to the United States.
Fact: When China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, Cardinal Wu Cheng-Chung became the first Chinese cardinal in the Communist nation. Hong Kong enjoys religious freedoms not permitted in the rest of China, and the aging Wu was allowed to remain. Upon Wu’s death, Beijing made known it would be displeased if the Vatican created another cardinal in Hong Kong. In 2003, Pope John Paul II named his fourth and final secret cardinal.
Fact: In April 2005, Pope John Paul II died and took to his grave the name of his last secret cardinal, though many believe it was Hong Kong’s Bishop Zen Ze-Kiun. One year later, Pope Benedict XVI made Bishop Zen a cardinal, triggering outrage from China. Like Pope John Paul II, Zen is a staunch anti-Communist, and he has taken a strong stand against Beijing’s efforts to rein in the rights and liberties enjoyed by the citizens of Hong Kong. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association decried Zen’s elevation as ‘a hostile act’ against the government of China.
Fact: Following Zen’s elevation, the CCPA named several new Bishops who were not acceptable to the Vatican — candidates chosen more for their political reliability than their episcopal qualifications. Allegations of kidnapping and forced participation/attendance marred Beijing’s claims that the ordinations were proper. The ordinations garnered worldwide condemnation.
Fact: On June 30,2007, the Vatican posted an open letter on the Vatican web site from the Pope to Catholics in China. The letter expressed the Pope’s desire for greater unity among the official and underground Catholics, for strong ties between the faithful of China and the rest of the Roman Catholic Church, for improved relations between China and the Vatican, and for a dialog on the naming of Bishops in China. In response, China reiterated its stance regarding the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan and on interference in China’s internal matters. China also blocked access to the Vatican web site and to domestic web sites that posted the Pope’s letter.
Fact: On September 1,2007, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs implemented Order No. 5, granting the state sole authority over the reincarnation of Living Buddhas. This formalizes a process started in 1995, when China arrested a boy who had recently been recognized as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, and then installed their own Panchen Lama. Through enforcement of this law, China intends to secure control over the most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism, including the next Dalai Lama. This effort mirrors China’s control over the naming of Bishops by the CCPA.
Fact: September 9, 2007, Bishop Han Ding Xiang, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Yang Nian in Heibei Province, died in prison. The Bishop spent nearly 35 years of his life in prisons and labor camps or under house arrest, and his whereabouts during his last six years of incarceration were unknown. The cause of the Bishop’s death remains unknown but the circumstances of his death appear suspicious as he died late in the night and was cremated and interred before dawn the next day.
Fact: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders view the pro-democracy movement and Christianity as the greatest threats to their single-party rule, and they are keenly aware of the Vatican’s role in toppling Soviet communism. They are particularly fearful of someone with the moral authority to challenge the CCP rising up from within China. Cardinal Zen embodies this perceived danger because the charismatic and popular Bishop of Hong Kong is now in a position to become the next Pope.