Cardinal Zen Granted Permission to Travel from Hong Kong for Pope’s Funeral

April 25, 2025 TruthUSA

The 93-year-old religious leader has regained his passport, which was confiscated under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2022, to make the trip.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 93-year-old retired bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, has been granted permission to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, taking place at the Vatican on Saturday.

The cardinal’s passport was withheld by the Hong Kong government following his arrest under a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2022.

Zen faced charges of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” a threat to national security, for acting as the trustee of a fund providing humanitarian assistance to pro-democracy protesters. Although he was released on bail pending investigation, he was barred from leaving Hong Kong.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Cardinal Zen successfully petitioned a court to recover his passport, enabling him to travel to the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis on Monday.

This arrangement permits him to leave Hong Kong under similar conditions as during his attendance at the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in January 2023. One stipulation is that the vocal cleric cannot engage in media interviews either before or after his departure from Hong Kong.

During the previous trip in 2023, Zen had a private audience with Pope Francis.

The cardinal plans to return to Hong Kong after the pope’s funeral, although the exact date of his return remains unknown. Upon his return, he will have to surrender his passport to the police as per his bail conditions, according to AP.

As he is over 80, he will not be eligible to vote in the forthcoming papal election.

Zen has consistently criticized the Vatican for its 2018 agreement with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to recognize bishops appointed by the CCP.

Following the passage of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law (NSL), he visited the Vatican in September 2020 to meet Pope Francis, aiming to personally present a letter and discuss the situation in Hong Kong and the Chinese diocese. Unfortunately, Pope Francis was unavailable to meet him during that visit.

Zen has also voiced his criticism against Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state responsible for negotiations with the CCP, who is considered a potential contender to succeed Pope Francis.

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